Comey: FBI investigating coordination between Trump campaign, Kremlin
Says ‘no evidence’ Obama ordered surveillance
WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey acknowledged Monday that his agency is conducting an investigation into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign in a counterintelligence probe that could reach all the way to the White House and may last for months.
The extraordinary disclosure came near the beginning of a sprawling, 5 1/2hour public hearing before the House Intelligence Committee in which Comey also said there is "no information" that supports President Donald Trump's claims that his predecessor ordered surveillance of Trump Tower during the election campaign.
Comey repeatedly refused to answer whether specific individuals close to the president had fallen under suspicion of criminal wrongdoing, "so we don't wind up smearing people" who may not be charged with a crime.
The FBI traditionally does not disclose the existence of an investigation, "but in unusual circumstances, where it is in the public interest," Comey said, "it may be appropriate to do so."
Comey also said he was authorized by the Justice Department to confirm the existence of the wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in the electoral process. He drew fire last year after he notified Congress 11 days before the presidential election — and against the department's strong advice not to — that the FBI had reopened an examination of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.
That move, Democrats charged, hurt Clinton as she was heading into the home stretch of her campaign. Now, the tables are turned.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the committee chairman, urged Comey to reveal if and when the bureau has information clearing any of its targets, and to do so as quickly as possible.
"There's a big gray cloud that you've now put over people who have very important work to do to lead this country, and so the faster that you can get to the bottom of this, it's going to be better for all Americans," Nunes said.
Comey said that the investigation began in late July and that for a counterintelligence probe, "that's a fairly short period of time."
The hearing came amid the controversy fired up by Trump more than two weeks ago when he tweeted, without providing evidence, that President Barack Obama had ordered his phones tapped at Trump Tower.
"I have no information that supports those tweets,'' Comey said. "We have looked carefully inside the FBI,'' and agents found nothing to support those claims.
Under questioning from the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, Comey said no president could order such surveillance. He added that the Justice Department had asked him to tell the committee that that agency has no such information, either.
Remarkably, Trump's presidential Twitter account continued to fire away throughout the widely watched hearing, live-tweeting comments and assertions that lawmakers then referred to and used to question Comey and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers.
Comey and Rogers both predicted that Russian intelligence agencies will continue to seek to meddle in U.S. political campaigns, because they consider their work in the 2016 presidential race to have been successful.
In an influence campaign that the U.S. intelligence community in January said was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, hackers working for Russian spy agencies penetrated the computers of the Democratic National Committee in 2015 and 2016, as well as the email accounts of Democratic officials. The material was relayed to WikiLeaks, the intelligence community reported, and the anti-secrecy group launched a series of damaging email releases that began just before the Democratic National Convention last summer and continued through the fall.