FBI to investigate Russian Interference in 2016
by Paul Notice
For the first time yesterday, FBI director James Comey confirmed to the House Investigation Committee that the FBI is investigating the Trump campaigns connection into Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.
"With respect to the president's tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets."
- James Comey, FBI Director
This is a rare move from an agency that rarely announces the details of ongoing investigations. It's also speculated that in the context of Comey's involvement in 2016's "October Surprise."
Denocrats during the briefing remarked the following as reasons for the investigation:
Russia's direct and targeted hacking of the DNC emails.
Damaging documentation on DNC conduct leaked to Wikileaks.
Trump's associates frequent, sometimes covert and unusual, contact with Russian officials during the 2016 elections.
Trump and his associates comments concerning leaked DNC information on the campaign trail, in relation to when leaks were released.
FBI Director, James Comey
GOP lawmakers pushed to focus on the prosecution of leakers in the White House and Executive Branch - which have led to much of the criticism of Trump's first 100 days in office.
FBI Director, James Comey & NSA Director, Michael Rogers
Comey, along with the head of the NSA, Michael Rogers, also rebuffed the assertion that the Obama administration ordered any surveillance of the Trump campaign during the 2016 elections.
Source: The New York Times, "The Daily," Tuesday, March 21, 2017