Who was involved: The officials reached by Spicer were CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-N.C), according to a senior administration official. The reporters were from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, the official said. Spicer provided reporters’ phone numbers to House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who offered to make the calls himself, according to the official: “He was in and out of an event.”…

What the White House was thinking: Spicer declined to comment. The official said Spicer didn’t know at the time whether an investigation of Trumpworld contacts with Russia was underway, and was trying to make sure the connections were made before evening deadlines. “We’d been getting incoming all day,” the official said. “Ironically, the White House was actually encouraging people with direct knowledge of the accuracy of the Times story to discuss it with other reporters.”…

Why this is unusual: Intelligence officials from the Obama administration said it’s rare for the CIA director to talk directly to a single journalist – that in the past, the director usually was held in reserve to talk to a publisher or executive editor in a case where a news organization was contemplating publishing something that could harm national security.