The FBI has been accused of weaponizing intelligence briefings and selectively leaking information to take aim at a number of high-profile targets.
Republicans have pointed to the emergence of what seems to be a troubling trend — the bureau directly (or via leaks to Democrats or carefully chosen media outlets) shaping the narrative around investigations in whatever way it sees fit.
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Those claims returned to the spotlight when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) raised concerns last month that an FBI briefing on Russia in summer 2020 was used to undercut their investigation of the Biden family at the same time the bureau was wrongly labeling evidence about Hunter Biden as disinformation.
A number of investigations have been affected by questionable briefings, including those into former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, and the inquiry into Hunter Biden’s finances.
Ian Fleming famously wrote for the notorious James Bond villain, Goldfinger, that “once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.” Here is a breakdown of the FBI’s most-scrutinized briefings that have led many Republicans to ponder that quote in recent years.
Hunter Biden
Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray last month about an Aug. 2020 briefing on alleged Russian influence efforts that he says were leaked to the press to hurt his Biden investigation. Whistleblowers claimed FBI officials had wrongly labeled verified evidence as “disinformation.”
FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment in Aug. 2020 that “was used by a FBI Headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” according to whistleblower disclosures.
The senator’s letter indicated congressional Democrats asked for a briefing in July 2020 “from the very same FBI HQ team that discredited the derogatory Hunter Biden information.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote to Wray in July 2020 that they were “gravely concerned … that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign, which seeks to launder and amplify disinformation.”
Grassley told Garland and Wray: “The concurrent opening of Auten’s assessment, the efforts by the FBI HQ team, and the efforts by the FBI to provide an unnecessary briefing to me and Senator Johnson that provided our Democratic colleagues fodder to falsely accuse us of advancing foreign disinformation draws serious concern.”
The Grassley-Johnson report on Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings was released in September 2020.
Joe Biden’s campaign baselessly dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop story as a Russian operation in October 2020.
Dossier and Trump Tower
James Comey’s briefing of Trump on the dossier in Jan. 2017 was used to advance the Crossfire Hurricane inquiry, according to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz in 2019.
The meeting between Trump, Comey, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and then-NSA Director Mike Rogers occurred on Jan. 6, 2017, and was leaked to the press. Its main topic was the intelligence community assessment on Russian meddling.
Comey stayed behind to tell Trump about some dossier claims, who denied the allegations. Comey told Trump reporters were looking to publish the dossier.
On Jan. 10, CNN ran a story titled “Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him.” BuzzFeed then posted Steele’s dossier with the title “These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties To Russia.”
Horowitz’s 2019 report on Comey’s mishandling of his memos showed Comey’s one-on-one with Trump was treated as a chance to gather Trump-Russia investigation information. The first “Comey Memo” was written that day.
The watchdog condemned Comey over leaking his memos to the press, saying he did so to advance his own interests and spark a special counsel. Trump fired Comey on May 9, and Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel a week later.
Beforehand, Comey met with since-fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and leaders of Crossfire Hurricane. Some worried Comey’s briefing could be seen as a “Hoover-esque type of plot” or as “blackmailing” Trump.
Horowitz wrote the FBI was focused on “Trump’s potential responses to being told about the ‘salacious’ information, including that Trump might make statements about, or provide information of value to, the pending Russian interference investigation.”
Comey had his team on standby to be told what he had learned, had a secure laptop waiting, and “began typing [Memo 1] as the vehicle moved.” He said the information “ought to be treated … [like] FISA-derived information or information in [a counterintelligence] investigation.”
McCabe forwarded Comey’s memo to former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who said Comey sent it “to upload into the case file” because it was “central to investigative activity.”
DOJ pretextual briefing to Trump and Flynn
The FBI’s first intelligence briefing of then-candidate Trump in Aug. 2016 at its New York field office was used as a “pretext” to gather evidence on him and then-foreign policy adviser Flynn, according to 2019 testimony from Horowitz.
“They sent a supervisory agent to the briefing from the Crossfire Hurricane team, and that agent prepared a report to the file of the briefing about what Mr. Trump and Mr. Flynn said,” Horowitz testified. “So the agent was actually doing the briefing but also using it for the purpose of investigation.”
That FBI agent was Joseph Pientka, who would later accompany now-fired FBI special agent Peter Strzok to interview Flynn in January 2017. Pientka detailed the briefing on Aug. 30, and the electronic communication was approved by Strzok and Kevin Clinesmith, the ex-FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty to editing a FISA filing fraudulently to state Trump campaign associate Carter Page was “not a source” for the CIA.
John Brennan and Harry Reid
Brennan briefed Reid on alleged Russian meddling on Aug. 25, 2016, and Reid fired off a letter to Comey two days later.
“The evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to mount,” Reid said. Numerous outlets reported on Reid’s claims and, citing the Reid letter, House Democrats sent a letter to Comey about the alleged “actions by Trump campaign officials on behalf of Russian interests.”
Reid followed up with Comey just before Halloween 2016.
“In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government,” Reid said.
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Reid’s letter was reported on by a host of outlets just before the election in which Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mueller said in 2019 that his investigation “did not establish” criminal collusion between Trump and Russia.
