Tag Archives: FBI

Via press release: “In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro, and beyond. Putin’s regime launched cyberattacks and spread disinformation with the goal of sowing chaos and …

The Washington Post reports: The Nunes memo is a document created by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority, particularly when it sought a secret court order to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser. The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against its release. On Wednesday, the …

Axios reports: White House aides recognize there could be a high cost to President Trump’s decision to allow — with no redactions — release of that classified memo about the Russian investigation. The White House plans to dress up the decision by arguing that it’s an action of “transparency.” But this puts President Trump publicly crossways with both the intelligence …

The Week reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial Republican memo on Friday against the firm advice of the FBI. Despite rumors that the bureau’s director, Christopher Wray, might step down as a result, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway did not appear concerned on Friday during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “The president has …

The Washington Post reports: The president did not actually see the memo — written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Nunes’s staff — until Wednesday afternoon, following the committee’s Monday vote to initiate its release, officials said. White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly marched the document into the Oval Office so that he and Trump …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump accused the FBI and the Justice Department of politicizing its investigations on Friday, just as the White House is expected to approve the release of a secret Republican memo alleging FBI bias against him in its Russia probe. The comment echoes Sean Hannity’s own word choice late Thursday night. While calling for the release …

CNN reports: Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN. Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director …

Talking Points Memo reports: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to remove Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as chair of the House Intelligence Committee over his decision to edit the committee’s controversial memo before sending it to the White House for review. “The decision of Chairman Nunes and House Republicans to release …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial congressional memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, after the White House agreed to some redactions at the bureau’s request, according to senior administration officials. The redactions were the result of a review of the memo’s classified contents by White House and intelligence community officials, …

Newsweek reports: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee made “material changes” to a controversial memo before providing it to the White House to be considered for public release, according to the top Democrat on the committee. In a letter Wednesday night, Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic ranking member of the committee, accused Representative Devin Nunes, its Republican chairman, of …

CNN reports: Emails obtained by CNN show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role in a controversial FBI decision that upended Hillary Clinton’s campaign just days before the 2016 election: the letter to Congress by then-FBI Director James Comey announcing the bureau was investigating newly discovered Clinton emails. The new revelation about …

Talking Points Memo reports: In a rare public statement, the FBI on Wednesday expressed “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a congressional Republican memo that purports to show anti-Trump prejudice among senior FBI and Justice Department officials. It’s extremely unlikely that the highly critical comment would be sent out without the approval of top Trump appointees at the FBI and …

Bloomberg reports: FBI Director Christopher Wray told the White House he opposes release of a classified Republican memo alleging bias at the FBI and Justice Department because it contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative, according to a person familiar with the matter. The memo on actions early in the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign is …

NBC News reports: The day after President Donald Trump fired James Comey as director of the FBI, he became so furious watching television footage of Comey boarding a government-funded plane from Los Angeles back to Washington that he called the bureau’s acting director, Andrew McCabe, to vent, according to multiple people familiar with the phone call. Trump demanded to know …

NBC News reports: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down Monday, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. McCabe will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March, the sources said. One source familiar said McCabe was exercising his retirement eligibility and characterized his decision as “stepping aside.” McCabe has …

ABC News reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday his own Justice Department may be fair game for criticism amid Republican complaints of anti-Trump bias in the FBI. Sessions, speaking to law enforcement officials in Norfolk, Virginia, said the department’s mission is to identify and correct “mistakes of the past” and eliminate political bias “in either direction” from its investigations …

Politico reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is embracing newly-released FBI statistics as evidence that America has turned the tide in its battle against violent crime — a shift he credits in large part to the policies of President Donald Trump. The FBI numbers, covering the first six months of 2017, show overall violent crime declined by 0.8 percent, with rape …

NBC News reports: A year ago today, Donald Trump’s newly sworn–in national security adviser, Michael Flynn, met privately in his West Wing office with FBI investigators interested in his communications with Russia’s ambassador, without a lawyer or the knowledge of the president and other top White House officials, according to people familiar with the matter. Flynn’s FBI interview on Jan. …

The Hill reports: President Trump appeared to call out Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung for a missing trove of text messages between two senior FBI officials that was not retained by the agency. The text messages between the two FBI employees, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, are among a larger trove of messages that were not saved by the FBI because …

The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is seeking to question President Trump in the coming weeks about his decisions to oust national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with his plans. Mueller’s interest in the events that led Trump to push out Flynn and Comey indicates that …