The FBI is investigating whether President Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Russians against the Democratic party during the 2016 election, the FBI director confirmed on Monday.
“The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating Russian efforts and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts,” FBI Director James Comey told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
That confirmation has political edges. It could lend credence to the general thrust of Trump’s claim that the Obama administration surveilled his team during the 2016 election (although he was not actually “wiretapped,” according to House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif.).
“The department has no information that supports those tweets,” Comey replied when asked if Trump’s accusations were correct.
Both Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, who testified alongside him, emphasized during the hearing that they would not discuss what kind of surveillance of particular individuals was taking place. Still, Comey’s revelation — a confirmation that he said was authorized by the Justice Department, which is headed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Trump appointee — is also welcome news to Democrats, who suspect that Trump’s team cooperated with Russian intelligence to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the intelligence panel, kicked off the hearing by summarizing the reported connections between Trump’s team and the Russian government.
“Is it a coincidence that [Trump informal adviser] Roger Stone predicted that [former Clinton campaign chairman] John Podesta would be the victim of a Russian hack and have his private emails published, and did so even before Mr. Podesta himself was fully aware that his private emails would be exposed?” Schiff said. “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. We simply don’t know, not yet, and we owe it to the country to find out.”
Comey promised they would. “This will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed,” he said.
