FBI director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee that an active investigation is underway into Russian involvement with the U.S. election, including whether or not there was collusion with the Trump campaign.
Comey also dismissed President Trump’s charges that the Obama administration was eavesdropping on Trump Tower.
The testimony brought back an issue that seemed to be fading, since no evidence has surfaced that Trump or any of his people conspired with the Russians. But does the FBI have that evidence?
Nor has evidence surfaced that Trump’s campaign was bugged. And yet the president keeps insisting that it happened anyway. That could have been part of an FBI probe, but House and Senate investigators have found no trace of such a thing.
Democrats might feel bolstered by Comey’s testimony, but they are also angry and frustrated. Comey said the investigation of Russian involvement in Trump’s campaign began last July. That summer Comey revealed that Hillary Clinton was under investigation for her illegal emails. He didn’t mention that he was also investigating Trump.
From Shane Goldmacher and Matthew Nussbaum, FBI’s Trump-Russia probe knocks White House on its heels – POLITICO:
The White House was knocked on the defensive Monday ahead of its biggest week yet on Capitol Hill as FBI Director James Comey confirmed the existence of an active investigation into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election, including whether there was any coordination with now-President Donald Trump’s team.
The dramatic revelation, made at a hearing of the House Intelligence Committee, dragged the Trump administration yet again back into uncomfortable territory just as it had hoped to highlight the smooth rollout of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, who began his confirmation hearings across the Capitol on Monday.
In another blow to Trump, Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers also publicly refuted his unsubstantiated claims on Twitter that President Barack Obama had ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower phones. The leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had said last week that Trump’s allegations were untrue.
“I have no information that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the FBI,” Comey said. . . .
He also revealed that the FBI launched its investigation into possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials back in July — a detail that enraged allies of Hillary Clinton, considering Comey chose to confirm the existence of the probe into her email arrangement but not the one into Trump’s campaign.
[Keep reading. . .]
Illustration from Pixabay, Public Domain
FBI director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee that an active investigation is underway into Russian involvement with the U.S. election, including whether or not there was collusion with the Trump campaign.
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