WHACK A MOLE
FBI probes Trump team for Russia ties Comey confirms plot to sway election
WASHINGTON — The FBI is looking into possible ties between Trump campaign officials and Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, Director James Comey acknowledged Monday.
“I’ve been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI as part of its counterintelligence mission is investigating the Russian government efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” Comey said at an open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.
“That includes investigating the nature of any links of people associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts,” he said.
Comey also knocked down President Trump’s Twitter claims that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped during the campaign.
“I have no information that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the FBI,” Comey said.
National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers testified that the White House’s suggestion that Obama may have instead asked British intelligence officials to wiretap Trump were similarly unfounded, saying it “would be expressly against” the policies of both governments.
Asked if he agreed with the British assessment that the claim — which originated with a Fox News commentator — was “ridiculous,” Rogers said yes.
He said the report, which White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited in a briefing with reporters, “clearly frustrated a key ally of ours,” while warning that Trump’s recent comments that both he and German leader Angela Merkel had been wiretapped by Obama “certainly complicates things” in terms of the U.S.-German relationship.
Comey’s testimony that the FBI began an investigation back in July raises questions about the repeated denials from President Trump and his team that they had any improper connections with Russia during the 2016 campaign.
Before Monday morning’s hearing, Trump declared there’s “no evidence” tying him to Russia’s active efforts to support his campaign.
“This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!” he tweeted. “The real story that Congress, the FBI and all others should be looking into is the leaking of Classified information. Must find leaker now!”
Trump stood by that sentiment, despite Comey’s testimony, while highlighting the FBI boss’ criticism of government leaks.
“NSA Director Rogers tells Congress unmasking individuals endangers national security,” Trump tweeted during the hearing, after claiming Rogers and Comey testified that “Russia did not influence electoral process.”
The pair actually testified that
they did not know what influence Russian tampering had on the election. Both were also close-lipped on details of the probe, and who was involved.
But it was quite a change for Comey to talk about an open probe at all — considering his past refusal to discuss the FBI’s look at Hillary Clinton’s email.
Comey said in July said he wasn’t going to recommend charges against the Democratic presidential candidate for using a private email server as secretary of state.
Then, on Oct. 28, he sent a letter to Congress saying the FBI was reviewing more emails — possibly linked to Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s disgraced husband, Anthony Weiner. Comey refused to say anything more about the emails, despite warning his silence could negatively affect the Nov. 8 election.
Two days before Election Day, Comey told lawmakers there was no new information to justify bringing charges against Clinton. The Intelligence Committee’s highest ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, named names in his opening statement.
Schiff listed Trump allies who had some form of contact with Russian officials, from now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, campaign aides J.D. Gordon and Carter Page and longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone.
“Is it possible that all of these events and reports are completely unrelated, and nothing more than an entirely unhappy coincidence? Yes, it is possible. But it is also possible, maybe more than possible, that they are not coincidental, not disconnected and not unrelated, and that the Russians used the same techniques to corrupt U.S. persons that they have employed in Europe and elsewhere, Schiff said..
Spicer insisted that “nothing has changed” in light of Comey’s bombshell. He then looked to put some distance between Trump and those in Trump-world who have been identified as having close Russian ties, dismissing Page and Gordon as “hangers-on of the campaign.”
Stone, a friend and adviser of Trump’s for decades, was described as not being that close to the President, while Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager during the Republican National Convention, was described as having “a very limited role for a very limited time.”
Comey predicted Russian agents would continue trying to interfere in the election process.“They’ll be back,” he said. “They’ll be back in 2020, maybe 2018.”
He declined to predict when his investigation might wrap up.
“I can promise you,” he vowed, “we will follow the facts wherever they lead.”
Meanwhile, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday night that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will skip a NATO foreign ministers meeting this spring and travel instead to Italy and then Russia.