Why It’s Good News That The FBI Is Investigating Trump Campaign’s Ties To Russia

Well, this just happened.

FBI Director James Comey just admitted that the FBI is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, but — more importantly — that they’re investigating any potential ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

James Comey’s statement acknowledging @FBI investigation into Trump campaign, Russia, 2016 meddling “& whether there was any coordination.” pic.twitter.com/Ry3Vvbszv8

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) March 20, 2017

The Washington Post has more:

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey said the investigation is also exploring whether there was any coordination between the campaign and the Kremlin.

The acknowledgment was an unusual move, given that the FBI’s practice is not to confirm the existence of ongoing investigations. “But in unusual circumstances, where it is in the public interest,” Comey said, “it may be appropriate to do so.”

The head of the committee is Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican from California, who said:

“The fact that Russia hacked U.S. election-related databases comes as no shock to this committee, we have been closely monitoring Russia’s aggressions for years. However, while the indications of Russian measures targeting the U.S. presidential election are deeply troubling, one benefit is already clear – it has focused wide attention on the pressing threats posed by the Russian autocrat. In recent years, Committee members have issue repeated and forceful please for stronger action against Russian belligerence. But the Obama administration was committee to the notion, against all evidence, that we could ‘reset’ relations with Putin, and it routinely ignored our warnings.”

According to the Post, Nunes said he wanted these three questions answered:

What actions did Russia undertake against the U.S. during the 2016 election?
Did anyone from a political campaign conspire in these activities?
Were any campaign officials or associates were subject to any improper surveillance?

Here’s the money quote:

In his opening statement, Schiff said, “we will never know whether the Russian intervention was determinative in such a close election. Indeed it is unknowlable in a campaign in which so many small changes could have dictated a different result. More importantly, and for the purposes of our investigation, it simply does not matter. What does matter is this: the Russians successfully meddled in our democracy, and our intelligence agencies have concluded that they will do so again.”

David French says this is good news for two reasons:

This is good news on two counts (1) It ends speculation over existence of investigation (2) It confirms the FBI is doing a job it should do. https://t.co/jxtfmtMbhv

— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 20, 2017