House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., introduced a bill this week that forces the FBI director to submit a report to Congress every time federal authorities launch an investigation into candidates running for federal office.
The bill requires the FBI to notify the congressional intelligence committees when the FBI opens a counterintelligence investigation into federal campaigns, like the bureau did with President Trump’s campaign in 2016. It also codifies the protocol for investigations into campaigns for a candidate for any federal office, and any individual knowingly associated with a campaign for a candidate for federal office.
“This bill addresses existing concerns that (1) the Bureau could unilaterally decide to not brief Congress on counterintelligence matters, and (2) the right congressional overseers are informed of sensitive counterintelligence investigations into campaigns for Federal office,” Stefanik’s office said in a summary of the bill shared with the Washington Examiner.
The legislation, dubbed the “FBI Counterintelligence Bill” by Stefanik’s office, is the result of an exchange last year between Stefanik and former FBI Director James Comey, during which he admitted he didn’t follow his own protocol of notifying Congress on a counterintelligence operation.
In the exchange between Stefanik and Comey, the New York lawmaker pressed Comey on why he didn’t notify Congress of his agency’s investigation into the Trump campaign. Comey responded that “it was a matter of such sensitivity that we wouldn’t include it in quarterly briefings.”
Stefanik asked: “When you state our decision, is that your decision? Is that usually your decision what gets briefed in those quarterly updates?”
Comey replied, “No, it’s usually the decision of the head of our counterintelligence division.”
Recently released transcripts from the congressional testimony of former FBI official Bill Priestap, former head of the counterintelligence unit and ex-FBI agent Peter Strozk’s direct boss, cast doubt on Comey’s statements in front of Congress in 2017 about who made the decision not to inform congressional leadership about the Trump-Russia investigation until 2017, despite its launch in July 2016.
When asked about this in 2017, Comey said the choice on whether or not to alert Congress is “usually the decision of the head of our counterintelligence division.”
But in 2018, when asked who made the decision not to tell Congress about this specific investigation, Priestap — the former assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division — replied: “Mr. Comey.”
The FBI says it began the counterintelligence investigation, dubbed “Crossfire Hurricane,” on July 31, 2016. At a May 21, 2017 hearing in front of the House Intelligence Committee nearly a year later, Comey said Congress had only been told about it “sometime recently.”
Priestap played a significant role in overseeing both the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and her handling of classified information, as well as the FBI’s investigation into allegations that President Trump and his associates were colluding with the Russian government during the 2016 election.
No charges were filed against Clinton and special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report, according to a letter from Attorney General William Barr, said: “the Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
The inquiry into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia resulted in a scandal over government surveillance into private citizens, particularly individuals who could be considered political enemies to individuals in power. In Barr’s hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this week, he said he believed the government spied on the Trump campaign and that his office will be reviewing the origins of the probe.
The spotlight was placed on the intelligence community as more information surfaced that federal authorities engaged in wiretaps of private citizens and used an unverified dossier written on the basis of campaign-funded opposition research.
Barr told the Senate Appropriations Committee it was his duty as attorney general to ensure that the federal government did not abuse its powers.
“I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated — adequately predicated,” Barr testified, referring to surveillance against the Trump campaign. “I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that. I think it’s my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned about intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane.”
Last month, Barr sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary committees briefing them of the “principal conclusions” in Mueller’s Russia investigation. The summary said the special counsel did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Barr also said Mueller left the obstruction question unresolved.
A line taken from Mueller’s final report says, “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein found there was a lack of “sufficient” evidence to determine whether Trump obstructed justice.
