FBI confirms probe of Russia-Trump ties
Local congressman hints intelligence agencies may have spied on Trump.
WASHINGTON— The FBI director confirmed Monday that the agency is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, even as he said there’s no evidence that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of President Donald Trump or his staff. During an appearance before
the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that the agency is probing “whether
there was any coordinat ion between the (Trump) campaign and Russia’s efforts.” He said the investigation will include an assessment of whether any crimes have been committed.
At times, the hours-long hearing seemed to have two rival themes: Democrats argued that the Trump campaign’s links to Russia were inescapable, while Republicans seemed focused on who had leaked classified information to the press, such as the information that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had had a conversation with the Russian ambassador. Flynn resigned in February after revealing he had given “incomplete information” to Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials about those conversations.
Trump weighed in via Twitter throughout the day, encouraging Republicans to look into the leaking of classified information
and saying “The Democrats made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terri-
ble campaign” and arguing “there is no evidence POTUS colluded with Russia.”
But the hearing also focused on Trump’s repeated tweeted allegations that Obama had wiretapped him shortly after the 2016 elections.
Comey said the FBI and the Justice Department had “no information” supporting the allegations.
“With respect to the pres- ident’s tweets about alleged
wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI,” he said.
Comey said that such a wiretapping application would have to go through an application process and be approved by a judge. “No president could” order such surveillance unilaterally, he said. In their opening state
ments, both Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes, a California Repub-
lican, and ranking Democrat Adam Schiff of California dismissed Trump’s claims that Obama had wiretapped him,
with Nunes saying there was “not physical wiretapping of Trump Tower,” and Schiff saying there was “no evidence whatsoever to sup
port that slanderous claim.” Nunes, however, did not rule out “other methods of surveillance” being used on Trump or his associates, and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton,
kept Trump’s open conversationsthe prospect that had been monitored, albeit unintentionally.
Turner said that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a law that allows the U.S. to spy on foreign powers — might have led to U.S. officials capturing Trump’s post-election conversations with foreign leaders. Turner says Trump’s conversations could be captured indirectly In an interview after
the hearing, Turner said it’s an issue he was concerned about long before Trump tweeted his accusations about Obama. Turner said while the law acknowledges that spying on foreign agents might mean that the private conversations of private U.S. citizens will also be captured, there’s little in that law to address what
happens next, and the law doesn’t do enough to mask the identity of the U.S. citizen whose conversation is monitored.
He said even if Trump’s conversations were captured
indirectly, then leaking those conversations was a problem. “We need to know who
knew what,” he said. “Who had access to the information and how it was disseminated in order to pursue what are criminal acts of mishandling
and disseminating classified information?”
Earlier, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., questioned whether reporters should be prosecuted for publishing classified information. “Is there an exception in the law for reporters who want to break a story?” he asked Comey. Comey replied that he didn’t think a reporter had been prosecuted for publish- ing classified information “during my lifetime.” Still, he admitted, the only way that the media would get classified information is if some-
one told them who shouldn’t have, he said. Trump spokesman Sean
Spicer said Monday’s congressional testimony didn’t change anything.
“We are still at the beginning phase of a look as to what kind of surveillance took place and why,” Spicer said during his daily White House briefing.
Turner and fellow Ohioan Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Cincinnati Republican, also questioned what would trigger an investigation — whether it’d be something as innocuous as meeting
with a foreign official, pos- ing for a photo with that official, or being paid to speak at a conference.
Wenst r up said he’d given a speech recently where the Iraqi ambassador approached him afterward and asked to meet later. “Would I be in trouble or under investigation if I meet with him?” he asked.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats on the panel questioned the outcome of the election directly, but both seemed to agree that Rus
sia had tried to have some impact on it.
Comey and National Security Agency director Adm. Mike Rogers both predicted that Russia would continue to try to intervene in future elections, either through influencing public opinion or through cyber warfare.
“They’ll be back,” Comey said.