FBI mum on probe of Russia, Trump
WASHINGTON • FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday refused to say whether his bureau was investigating any possible ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, citing policy not to comment on what the FBI might or might not be doing.
Comey testified at the Senate’s second hearing in a week addressing allegations of Russian election hacking. In late October he angered Democrats when he announced 11 days before the election that the FBI was looking at more emails as part of its investigation of Hillary Clinton.
“I would never comment on investigations — whether we have one or not — in an open forum like this so I can’t answer one way or another,” Comey told the Senate’s intelligence committee during his first public appearance before Congress since the unusual disclosure about Clinton.
“The irony of your making that statement, I cannot avoid,” said Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent.
Insisted Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., “The American people have the right to know this.”
It wasn’t clear if Wyden was alluding to an investigation that may be classified, or if his questioning was an effort to cast Trump in a negative light shortly before the inauguration.
An active FBI investigation of the next president for ties between his campaign and a nation accused of meddling in the presidential election could further stoke mistrust in the legitimacy of the democratic process. It could also put Trump’s own FBI in the awkward position of examining the conduct of those closest to the commander-in-chief.
The FBI was among three U.S. intelligence agencies that collaborated on last week’s report on Russia’s election activity. It tied Russian President Vladimir Putin to the hacking of email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and individual Democrats like Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. It said there was no evidence the Russians tampered with vote tallies; the agencies said they couldn’t assess if Russia succeeded in influencing Americans to vote for Trump.
Intelligence officials briefed Trump and President Barack Obama on their findings late last week. The New York Times and CNN reported Tuesday night that the officials also presented Trump with unsubstantiated reports that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about him.
“Intelligence agencies considered it so potentially explosive that they decided Mr. Obama, Mr. Trump and congressional leaders needed to be told about it and that the agencies were actively investigating it,” said the Times.
It is believed the summary was originally from a former British spy — now running a private security business — who passed on information to American intelligence.