F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia

[George II]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — In the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.

The inquiry carried explosive implications. Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.

The investigation the F.B.I. opened into Mr. Trump also had a criminal aspect, which has long been publicly known: whether his firing of Mr. Comey constituted obstruction of justice.

Agents and senior F.B.I. officials had grown suspicious of Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign but held off on opening an investigation into him, the people said, in part because they were uncertain how to proceed with an inquiry of such sensitivity and magnitude. But the president’s activities before and after Mr. Comey’s firing in May 2017, particularly two instances in which Mr. Trump tied the Comey dismissal to the Russia investigation, helped prompt the counterintelligence aspect of the inquiry, the people said.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us/politics/fbi-trump-russia-inquiry.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

---

This just broke minutes ago, CNN reporting on it right now.

[Hotler]

1. Working for? Na! Owned by, yes. nt

[olegramps]

55. Is his motivation solely driven by profit allowing him to be compromised?

Perhaps his motivation is not treasonous but driven by his insane greed. He wanted to build a hotel in Moscow and was going to sweeten the pot with an apartment for Putin. I don't believe that he can stand to lose and will go to any extent to get his way. However, even though his actions could be seriously damaging to the country he will discount them in his quest. He is a totally unprincipled man and a disgusting example of a amoral cretin. He gained the presidency by exploiting racism and demagoguery making promises only gullible people feed a steady diet of hate broadcast could believe.

The Republican Party long ago lost it moral balance when it sold it soul to the hate radio propagandists giving silent assent to their lies to gain office. The party is now owned by the extremists and their own survival is dependent on dong their bidding. This was aptly demonstrated when Trump withdrew his agreement to compromise on his ridiculous wall and caved into their howling protestations. McCain was a lone voice in his rejection of the slander of President Obama that he was not an American citizen and a secret Muslim. Trump seized it and it paved his way to the presidency along with asinine promises that he was going to turn back the clock against automation and a global economy.

[FailureToCommunicate]

2. Written in past tense as if not current. Is this still a current investigation?

[George II]

5. CNN is speculating that Comey getting fired might have had something to do with this.

[fountainofyouth]

8. If it is still being investigated

It would have been assumed by Mueller's team.

[highplainsdem]

10. See reply 6. The article says it's unclear whether the investigation is continuing.

[highplainsdem]

3. They're discussing this on CNN now.

[elleng]

4. Discussion NOW on Chris Hayes' show, MSNBC.

[George II]

7. I'm watching CNN. Josh Campbell is talking about it - he's very good.

[highplainsdem]

6. "It is unclear whether Mr. Mueller is still pursuing the counterintelligence matter"

Quoting the article there.

[BadgerMom]

30. Isn't much of the Mueller investigation a counter intelligence matter?

At least from what we can tell?

[George II]

9. "The FBI thought trump was a national security risk" - now we're two year into this....

....that's possibly two years' worth of data he could have been feeding Putin.

[sfwriter]

42. Or two years of evidence, network, and other agents they have identified.

If we have Mueller investigating influence AND and obstruction probe AND a counterintelligence probe, there could be a lot of shoes to drop.

[BigmanPigman]

11. Did Rosenstein know of this?

He must have.

[Amaryllis]

12. On CHris Hayes they just tied Rosenstein offering to wear a wire to this.

[BigmanPigman]

13. Wasn't that something he was accused of a few months ago?

I am having deja vu.

[Amaryllis]

18. Yes. Chris just had a discussion with Jill Wine Banks about it and she was talkling about it

like it had happened - Rosenstein asking if they wanted him to wear a wire.

[Duppers]

15. He would've been wise

To have done so, imho.

[BigmanPigman]

16. Ah, he was back in Sept, I just googled it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-wear-wire-25th-amendment.html
"The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit."

"Mr. Rosenstein made these suggestions in the spring of 2017 when Mr. Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director plunged the White House into turmoil. Over the ensuing days, the president divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide."

"Mr. Rosenstein was just two weeks into his job. He had begun overseeing the Russia investigation and played a key role in the president’s dismissal of Mr. Comey by writing a memo critical of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But Mr. Rosenstein was caught off guard when Mr. Trump cited the memo in the firing, and he began telling people that he feared he had been used."

[George II]

14. CNN was speculating that he did, since Sessions recused himself...

...Rosenstein would have had to approve the investigation.

This could very well be why trump was so violently against Sessions recusing himself.

The crux of the matter is whether or not trump fired Comey to interfere with this investigation.

This is getting serious, and FAST!

[jberryhill]

17. Secretly?

Secretly?

Well, that’s not a very well kept secret.

[flibbitygiblets]

25. Right? This is apparently news if you're not on DU

The minute Manafort came on board the jig was up.

Welcome to our world, rest of the planet.

[sarcasmo]

19. Gonna be a fun weekend.

[poli-junkie]

20. I don't understand why this is so relevatory.

I would hope that the FBI thought Trump was suspicious from the very beginning of his campaign and even his years hanging out in Moscow with his beauty pageant & hotel plans.

[DesertRat]

21. Benjamin Wittes breaksdown what it all means

What if the Obstruction Was the Collusion? On the New York Times’s Latest Bombshell
By Benjamin Wittes Friday, January 11, 2019, 8:43 PM
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-if-obstruction-was-collusion-new-york-timess-latest-bombshell

[herding cats]

23. Thanks, it's excellent and I'd like to drop a few relevant paragraphs here.

This quoted testimony immediately above reminded me of a passage Baker had written elsewhere, a passing discussion in an essay on a different subject which Baker wrote for Lawfare but has not yet published. This passage was cleared in pre-publication review by the FBI some months ago when we at Lawfare thought the essay’s publication was imminent. Here, too, Jim stressed that the investigation was about Russian activity. Here is the relevant passage:

A lot of the criticism seems to be driven by the notion that the FBI’s investigation was, and is, an effort to undermine or discredit President Trump. That assumption is wrong. The FBI’s investigation must be viewed in the context of the bureau’s decades-long effort to detect, disrupt and defeat the intelligence activities of the governments of the Soviet Union and later the Russian Federation that are contrary to the fundamental and long-term interests of the United States. The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation regarding the 2016 campaign fundamentally was not about Donald Trump but was about Russia. Full stop. It was always about Russia. It was about what Russia was, and is, doing and planning. Of course, if that investigation revealed that anyone—Russian or American—committed crimes in connection with Russian intelligence activities or unlawfully interfered with the investigation, the FBI has an obligation under the law to investigate such crimes and to seek to bring those responsible to justice. The FBI’s enduring counterintelligence mission is the reason the Russia investigation will, and should, continue—no matter who is fired, pardoned or impeached (emphasis added).

There is a lot packed into this little paragraph, so let’s pause for a moment to unpack it. First, note the structure of Baker’s fundamental understanding of the investigation as fundamentally about Russia, with the U.S. component subsidiary to the investigation of Russian government activity. Note also that this construction is fully consistent with Jim Comey’s Mar. 20, 2017, congressional testimony in which he disclosed the existence of the investigation in the first place:

I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts (emphasis added).

If I could I could add much more, but copyright issues, and all. I want to encourage people to read it, though.

[DesertRat]

39. +1

[Xipe Totec]

22. I take exception to the word "secretly" nt

[saljr1]

24. now I am leaning more to Rod Rosenstein as the sender of the anonymous letter to the

Washington Post.

[ffr]

26. Afghanistan, Belarus, and Montenegro

What we have are three instances—Afghanistan, Belarus, and Montenegro—when Donald Trump has promoted propaganda embraced by no one in the world except Vladimir Putin. Here is Chuck Rosenberg, former DEA administrator, commenting on what that means:

Link to tweet

"I don’t mean to be an alarmist but...POTUS is echoing directly the line of the Kremlin on a whole bunch of things.... this is something U.S. Intel officials have to understand: why is the Pres. saying what hes saying?"- Chuck Rosenberg w/ @NicolleDWallace - WashingtonMonthly

When it's hard to understand how something can be so complicated, it's very possible that the answer you seek is the simplest one.

What else would explain his secret one-on-one meetings with Putin behind closed doors.

RUSSIAN
ASSET

TRAITOR

If Trump Is Not a Russian Asset, What Explains His Behavior?

[Roadside Attraction]

27. This news closes the circle . . .

Here's a list for your reading enjoyment:

Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, by Seth Hettena.

House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia, by Craig Unger.

Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and how Russia Helped Donald Trump Win, by Luke Harding.

The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy, by Greg Miller.

Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America, by Seth Abramson.

[Gothmog]

28. From Malcom Nance

Link to tweet

?s=20

[trueblue2007]

43. Trump is a Russian Asset/ CAN YOU SAY: lock them all up. #LockHimUp

+

[Gothmog]

29. We were warned

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Hekate]

31. Kick the hell out of this

[Gothmog]

32. Boom

Link to tweet

?s=20

[orangecrush]

33. They are preparing the public

for the coming bombshells.

Just my guess.

[Gothmog]

34. Putin owns trump

Link to tweet

?s=20

[George II]

35. How much longer will McConnell and republicans allow trump to commit treason?

[Generic Brad]

41. Until they are exposed as being compromised too?

Their actions demonstrate they are in on it too. They aren’t backing up Trump because he is charming and nice to them. He’s not charming or nice to anyone.

[dalton99a]

36. No puppet. No puppet.

Last edited Sat Jan 12, 2019, 02:18 PM - Edit history (1)

[Gothmog]

37. Putin owns trump

Link to tweet

?s=20

[blue-wave]

38. Dear FBI;

Thank you for opening this inquiry into something most of us already know. I can sum up the question with one simple three letter word. One clue. It's the opposite of a simple two letter word. Let's all fill in the blanks, shall we? _ _ _.

For fucks sake!! 2 years in and were just getting started? Every one of our intelligence agencies should have been on top of this from day one. What the hell is going on?????

[Generic Brad]

40. Duh

It was even obvious during his campaign.

“Russia, if you’re listening.......”

[Solly Mack]

44. K&R

[LittleGirl]

45. Wow! eom

[kairos12]

46. Welcome to the party FBI! What took you?

[nitpicker]

47. Link to The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/11/donald-trump-fbi-investigate-working-russia-report

[olddad56]

48. anyone who finds this news even mildly suprising, has not been paying attention.

[olddad56]

49. I can't wait until the day the lock Trump up, and shave his hair plugs.

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. Plus, the day after he fired Comey, he leaked classified information to the Russian ambassador

and foreign minister. So, yeah, the evidence is considerable.

Trump Says He Has 'Absolute Right' To Share Intelligence With Russia

[Pachamama]

51. Bookmarking this thread - there are so many interesting links connecting all the dots and to read

...and hear the opinions of people like Malcom Nance, Benjamin Wittes, Chuck Rosenberg, the article in the NYT revealing the counter intelligence investigation launched by the FBI following the firing of Comey, Rod Rosenstein possibly been wired etc, the meeting in the White House with Russians on very day of Comey firing (remember Lavarov joking about Comey being fired?)....

The list goes on....the dots are being connected. And Mueller knows all of this and more and has had so many "witnesses" working with him.....

My mind is spinning.....

[Optical.Catalyst]

52. Inquiry? I think the FBI knew, they just needed evidence to prove it.

Once Trump was in office, he found out about the investigation and changed his methods of communication. The search for evidence became an order of magnitude more difficult for the FBI. Lucky for us Robert Mueller was appointed Special Council with full investigative powers to ferret out the truth. The clock is ticking for Trump; it is only a matter of time before he is charged.

[Cha]

53. KR!

[wishstar]

54. Meanwhile Trump and his Repub allies have relentlessly attacked FBI's Comey,McCabe,Strzok,Page

I expect the Repubs to just continue ignoring the national security implications of Trump's Russian affinity and circle the wagon claiming bias by partisan FBI officials (who have been purged or resigned from FBI under Trump). FBI officials who spent most of their careers investigation Russian criminal activity have been systematically investigated and maligned with excuses involving Clinton email probe and for not being Trump loyalists.

[mcar]

56. ...

[Maxheader]

57. Day late and dollar short, there fbi dudes...

Throw the commy spy in the clink....

[Gothmog]

58. We were warned

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Talitha]

59. A far-fetched dream, but this ran across my mind last night.

Drumpf seems to be hanging around the White House recently. He didn't go to Mar a Lago for the holidays, and I can't remember the last time he went golfing. Always complaining that he's all alone in the White House.

In light of this FBI investigation, might he be under some sort of house arrest? He'd gladly create a super-crisis as a smoke screen to cover up the real reason he's been 'home alone' - except when he's doing something 'presidential' like the border trip.

[wishstar]

60. He's on short lease accompanied on border trip by Kushner, Mulvaney Sanders and top WH counsel

Trump's shown more signs than ever of instability lately.

I think after his impulsive move with Syria that caused Mattis resignation and his sudden decision to not go along with the continuing resolution but instead shutdown govt, his closest circle at WH is monitoring him and even making sure Pence has been constantly hovering nearby as if to reassure Trumpers that Pence is a stable influence waiting in the wings.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

61. "the most astonishing thing I've seen reported during the Trump presidency"

David Fahrenthold Retweeted

I know everyone has their own pick, but almost two years later this still remains the most astonishing thing I’ve seen reported during the Trump presidency

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

63. This nation is under threat and the threat is the person sitting in the seat of the president of the

Link to tweet