Tag: FBI

Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein

The following article by Nicolas Fandos, Adam Goldman and Sharon LaFraniere was posted on the New York Times website January 28, 2018:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein at a hearing in December. Mr. Rosenstein is said to have approved an application for surveillance of a former Trump associate. Credit Pete Marovich for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.

The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent. But the reference to Mr. Rosenstein’s actions in the memo — a much-disputed document that paints the investigation into Russian election meddling as tainted from the start — indicates that Republicans may be moving to seize on his role as they seek to undermine the inquiry. Continue reading “Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein”

GOP feud with FBI ratchets up

The following article by Katie Bo Williams was posted on the Hill website January 24, 2018:

The knives are out for the FBI on Capitol Hill.

Conservative lawmakers from four separate committees are raising alarm bells about a tranche of missing text messages between two FBI agents assigned to the investigation into Russia and President Trump’s campaign, saying it calls into “further question the credibility and objectivity of certain officials at the FBI.” Continue reading “GOP feud with FBI ratchets up”

FBI agents visited Steve Bannon’s home last week to discuss subpoena in Russia probe

The following article by Hallie Jackson, Kristen Welker and Julia Ainsley was posted on the NBC News website January 17, 2018:

FBI agents showed up at Steve Bannon’s Washington home last week intent on serving him with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.

The agents were unaware at the time that Bannon had retained Washington lawyer William Burck just hours earlier, according to two people familiar with the events that took place on Jan. 9. Once redirected, the agents sent the order to Burck, who is also representing two other witnesses in the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI. Continue reading “FBI agents visited Steve Bannon’s home last week to discuss subpoena in Russia probe”

Trump’s Wall Street Journal interview is incoherent and bizarre

The following article by Dylan Matthews was posted on the Vox.com website January 11, 2018:

Credit: Evan Vucci/Associated Press

“I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un,” he says, and we all wonder what he means by “probably.”

The president of the United States gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal about his diplomatic efforts to contain the North Korea nuclear program, his proposal for a border wall with Mexico (and having Mexico pay for it), the process of renegotiating NAFTA with Canada and Mexico, and his relationship with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Among the things he said: Continue reading “Trump’s Wall Street Journal interview is incoherent and bizarre”

What you need to know about Christopher Steele, the FBI and the Trump ‘dossier’

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website January 9, 2019:

The Russia probe got its start with a drunken conversation, an ex-spy, WikiLeaks and a distracted FBI. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Mr. Steele was on the payroll of Fusion GPS, who was being paid by the Democratic Party to do opposition research on Donald Trump. That while he was working with the FBI, he was shopping this dossier all over the world. That’s not what an informant should do.”
— Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Jan. 7, 2018

Graham and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Jan. 5 referredChristopher Steele, the author of the “dossier” alleging ties between President Trump and Russia, for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department. The move is an unexpected twist in the saga over the document, which was gossiped about in journalistic circles during the 2016 presidential election until a version was published by BuzzFeed shortly before Trump’s inauguration. Continue reading “What you need to know about Christopher Steele, the FBI and the Trump ‘dossier’”

Everything I’ve Done Is 100 Percent Proper,’ Trump Says of Russia Inquiry

The following article by Michael Tackett was posted on the New York Times website January 6, 2018:

President Trump with top congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David on Saturday. Mr. Trump said that Republicans were looking at changes to the nation’s welfare laws, but that they would have to be done on a bipartisan basis. Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump again insisted on Saturday that he was not under investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russian influence on the 2016 election, adding that “there’s been no collusion, there’s been no crime.”

“Everything I’ve done is 100 percent proper,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference at Camp David, where he was asked about a New York Times report that he had pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia inquiry. “That is what I do, is I do things proper.” Continue reading “Everything I’ve Done Is 100 Percent Proper,’ Trump Says of Russia Inquiry”

House GOP intensifies assault on Mueller probe

The following article by Katie Bo WIlliams was posted on the Hill website January 6, 2018:

© Getty Images

House Republicans are intensifying a multipronged assault to chip away at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

A vocal group of conservative members has for weeks blitzed the airwaves decrying bias in Mueller’s investigation and on Thursday, two prominent members called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down from the Department of Justice (DOJ) — a resignation that could clear the way for the special counsel’s dismissal.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), secured the backing of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to enforce a swath of subpoenas probing the Justice Department’s use of the so-called Steele dossier in the probe. Continue reading “House GOP intensifies assault on Mueller probe”

FBI No. 2 Targeted By Trump Had No Conflict In Clinton Probe, Documents Show

The following article by Ryan J. Reilly was posted on the Huffington Post website January 5, 2018:

Andrew McCabe had faced criticism because his wife received campaign donations from a political action committee affiliated with a Clinton ally.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting on the FBI’s budget requests for FY2018 on June 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. McCabe became acting director in May, following President Trump’s dismissal of James Comey. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON ― FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s Twitter tirades, did not have any role in the Hillary Clinton email investigation while his wife was running for Virginia state senator, according to documents disclosed Friday.

Trump and congressional Republicans have alleged that the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state was tainted because the campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe received nearly half a million dollars from a political action committee tied to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close ally of the Clintons.

The FBI documents made public Friday show that McCabe had no oversight of the Clinton email investigation when it began in July 2015. At that time, McCabe was in the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Clinton inquiry was being run out of FBI headquarters. His wife lost her election in November 2015. McCabe didn’t begin overseeing the Clinton investigation until months later, when he became deputy FBI director in February 2016. Continue reading “FBI No. 2 Targeted By Trump Had No Conflict In Clinton Probe, Documents Show”

FBI has been investigating the Clinton Foundation for months

The following article was posted on the Washington Post website January 5, 2018:

The FBI is again investigating the Clinton Foundation for potentially giving donors special political access and favors — either resuming or starting a new probe that was once considered dead, according to two officials familiar with the matter. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

The FBI has been investigating the Clinton Foundation for months, reviving a probe that was dialed back during the 2016 campaign amid tensions between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents about the politically charged case, according to people familiar with the matter.

The inquiry resumed about a year ago. Agents are now trying to determine if any donations made to the foundation were linked to official acts when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, these people said. The people did not identify what specific donations or interactions agents are scrutinizing.

Word of the investigation comes at a particularly fraught time for the Justice Department and FBI, as it tries to navigate several polarizing issues, including an ongoing special-counsel probe of President Trump and his associates, as well as demands from Republicans in Congress that Clinton be reinvestigated on a host of issues. Among those is the foundation case.

On Friday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) asked the Justice Department to investigate whether a key figure in the special-counsel probe, a former British spy who authored a dossier of allegations, may have lied to the FBI. Continue reading “FBI has been investigating the Clinton Foundation for months”

Nunes announces deal for FBI files, interviews

The following article by John Bowden was posted on the Hill website January 4, 2018:

© Greg Nash

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Thursday that he has reached a deal with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for documents and interviews relating to FBI agents who were removed from special counsel Robert Mueller‘s team over anti-Trump text messages.

In a letter detailing an earlier conversation between the two men released by Nunes on Thursday night, the California Republican announced that the House Intelligence Committee will gain access to documents and text messages relating to agent Peter Strzok and his FBI colleague Lisa Page, as well as access to a number of FBI witnesses themselves, later in January. Continue reading “Nunes announces deal for FBI files, interviews”