FBI asked to rebut Russia reports
White House says chief of staff Reince Priebus had little choice but to seek help over ‘‘inaccurate’’ news stories.
It is a very slippery slope. Do I get in the position of where I’m updating the White House on my priority criminal cases? Ron Hosko - retired FBI assistant director
The White House has defended chief of staff Reince Priebus against accusations that he breached a government firewall when he asked FBI director James Comey to publicly dispute media reports that Trump campaign advisers had been frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents.
President Donald Trump’s spokesman, Sean Spicer, argued that Priebus had little choice but to seek Comey’s assistance in rebutting what Spicer said were inaccurate reports about contacts during last year’s presidential campaign.
The FBI did not issue a statement requested by Priebus, and has given no sign that one is forthcoming.
‘‘I don’t know what else we were supposed to do,’’ Spicer said.
The Justice Department has policies in place to limit communications between the White House and the FBI about pending investigations.
Trump officials yesterday not only confirmed contacts between Priebus and the FBI, but engaged in an extraordinary public airing of those private conversations.
Spicer said it was the FBI that first approached the White House about the veracity of a New York
Times story asserting that Trump advisers had contacts with Russian intelligence officials during the presidential election campaign. Spicer said Priebus then asked both Comey and FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe if they would condemn the story publicly, which they declined to do.
The FBI would not comment on the matter or verify the White House account.
The revelations are the latest wrinkle in Trump’s already complicated relationship with the FBI and other intelligence agencies. He has accused intelligence officials of releasing classified information about him to the media, declaring in a tweet on Friday that the FBI was ‘‘totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time’’.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Priebus of ‘‘an outrageous breach of the FBI’s independence’’, and called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to look into all conversations Priebus and other White House officials have held with the FBI on ongoing investigations.
Ron Hosko, a retired FBI assistant director who oversaw criminal investigations, said the discussions between the FBI and the Trump White House were inadvisable.
‘‘It is a very slippery slope,’’ Hosko said. ‘‘Do I get in the position of where I’m updating the White House on my priority criminal cases?’’
CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI for help, and a White House official confirmed the matter to The Associated Press, before two other senior White House officials summoned
reporters to a briefing to expand on the timeline of events.
The White House officials would only discuss the matter on the condition of anonymity.
Two hours later, Trump panned news stories that rely on anonymous sources, telling a conservative conference that reporters ‘‘shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name’’.
Spicer later briefed some reporters on the record. Several news organisations, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles
Times and CNN, were blocked from attending, and the Associated Press declined to participate in sympathy, but audio of the briefing was later circulated by reporters who attended.
Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign in an effort to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. On February 14, The New York
Times reported that intelligence agencies had collected phone records and call intercepts showing frequent communication between Trump advisers and Russian intelligence agents during the campaign. Trump has said he is not aware of such contacts.
According to Spicer, McCabe told Priebus in ‘‘very colourful terms’’ that the report was inaccurate, prompting the chief of staff to ask if the FBI would make its view known publicly.
Spicer said McCabe told the White House the bureau did not want to be in the practice of rebutting news stories. A similar message was conveyed to Priebus later in the day by Comey.
The White House said McCabe and Comey instead gave Priebus the go-ahead to discredit the story publicly – something the FBI has not confirmed.
Priebus told Fox News that ‘‘the top levels of the intelligence community’’ had assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were ‘‘not only grossly overstated but also wrong’’.
Spicer said he was not aware of an FBI investigation into Trump campaign advisers’ contacts with Russia. Michael Flynn was fired as national security adviser after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the US during the transition.