FBI talked Trump campaign probe back in 2016
WASHINGTON — During the early days of the Russia investigation, FBI officials debated whether Donald Trump's chance of winning should factor into how aggressively they investigated potential coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, two FBI officials told Congress last year, according to newly released transcripts of their interviews.
Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who helped lead the investigation, told lawmakers in a closeddoor interview that the FBI had received information from an “extremely sensitive source” alleging collusion between the government of Russia and members of the Trump campaign. FBI officials, including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, debated internally how vigorously to follow up on that information given that Democrat Hillary Clinton was seen at the time as likely to defeat Trump, and an aggressive investigation had the potential of exposing the source.
Strzok recalled that he disagreed that a candidate's electability should be part of the equation.
“If there are members of the Trump campaign who are actively illegally colluding with the government of Russia, that's something the American people need to know, that's something candidate Trump potentially needs to know. And equally, if they aren't guilty of anything, that's also important,” Strzok said.
The comments were made during a closeddoor interview in June 2018 with members of the House judiciary and oversight committees. The top Republican on the Judiciary panel, Rep. Doug Collins, released a transcript of the interview Thursday as part of an ongoing effort to paint the early days of the Russia investigation as tainted by law enforcement bias. In the past week, Collins has released transcripts of similar interviews with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and with ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok exchanged anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 election and during investigations into the Trump campaign.
Those text messages have made Strzok and Page particular targets of outrage from Republicans and from Trump.
In a statement Thursday, Strzok attorney Aitan Goelman said his client welcomed the release of the transcript.
“It is further evidence that, contrary to the impression that the President's allies in Congress tried to create with their selective and often inaccurate leaks, Pete at all times discharged his duties honorably, patriotically, and without regard to his personal political opinions,” Goelman said.