GOP will be ‘aided and abetted’ by Russian bots and trolls defending Trump: Former FBI counter-intel chief

The former assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Americans to "hunker down" because Russian intelligence will be repeating Republican talking points.

Frank Figliuzzi was interviewed Thursday by MSNBC's Brian Williams on "The 11th Hour."

"Frank, Fiona Hill -- who richly deserves it -- has been awarded front page status tomorrow morning on the front page of The New York Times, and I imagine newspapers and websites across this country," Williams noted.

"It was extraordinary today when she -- in effect, begged -- asked, certainly, members of the committee to stop supplying Russian talking points, to stop advancing Russian propaganda in the Congress of the United States," he continued.

"What do you think our adversaries make of all this?" Williams asked.

"Well, we saw a true Russian professional today, an expert on Russia calling out a series of lies that keep getting put out by GOP members and the president himself," Figliuzzi replied.

"Remember, we have a president who said, with regard to DNC hacking, it might be Russia, it might be other countries, it could be a 400-pound guy sitting in his bed -- and GOP members have promulgated that," he explained. "And it's a Putin, Russia intelligence narrative."

"Rudy Giuliani, still trying to prove that it was Ukraine that did all that, not Russia, and that's exactly what Putin wants put out," he continued.

Figliuzzi then issued an urgent warning.

"So today, he took a hit. Putin took a hit today," he said. "But let me tell you something, we're in for a withering assault because of the success of these hearings, because of the powerful impact of Dr. Fiona Hill, you're going to see the GOP and the White House and the attorney general, and the Senate -- led by Lindsey Graham -- put up an all-out assault on anyone that's trying to get to the truth."

"And they'll be aided and abetted by the Russian intelligence service, who will step up the game on social media with bots and trolls and posts that continue the Russian narrative," Figliuzzi predicted.

"We need to hunker down, because it's coming and it's coming in a big way in the next few weeks," he warned.

"That's chilling," Williams replied.

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