What You Need to Know About Comey
What's the latest on the Russia investigation and where does fired FBI Director James Comey fit in?
President Donald Trump'south decision to terminate Comey sent shockwaves through Washington on Tuesday, with many senior Democrats accusing the White House of undermining the bureau'due south investigation into whether the Trump entrada colluded with Russia to prevent Hillary Clinton'due south election.
There are, in fact, multiple ongoing storylines and investigations related to Russia so it's worth taking a moment to intermission them out individually and see how Comey's ouster intersects with them.
Russian hacking
The main investigation stems from the 2016 presidential ballot.
During the campaign, Wikileaks published emails stolen from Democratic officials and Clinton'due south campaign chairman John Podesta. The U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had ordered the hacking, likely to undermine Clinton and boost Trump. The Part of the Director of National Intelligence issued a public report on its findings in Jan and the conclusion was backed by Comey'due south FBI, as well as the CIA and NSA.
The findings upset Trump, who had said he would pursue closer ties with Putin during the entrada and publicly chosen on Russia to release Clinton's emails. He refused to arraign Russian federation for the hack set on during the race and later claimed the attending devoted to their meddling was a plot past political opponents to undermine his legitimacy.
While Trump eventually conceded in January that he believed Russia was backside the hacks, he suggested in a CBS interview last month that it "could have been China" or other actors, contradicting his own intelligence agencies and providing no source for his claim.
FBI investigates coordination with Trump campaign
There is a second contraction to the Russian federation enquiry.
Comey revealed in a March appearance before the House Intelligence Committee that the FBI was probing whether anyone associated with Trump'south 2016 presidential campaign was involved in the Russian hacking. And CNN reported Tuesday night that federal prosecutors had issued subpoenas to associates of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn seeking business concern records equally office of the ongoing probe.
"I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as function of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential ballot and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump entrada and the Russian government and whether at that place was any coordination between the entrada and Russia'southward efforts," Comey said at the time. "Equally with whatsoever counterintelligence investigation, this will as well include an cess of whether whatsoever crimes were committed."
It's unusual for the FBI to comment publicly on an ongoing politically sensitive investigation and Comey kept tight-lipped about the details beyond acknowledging its existence. It is not known whom he is investigating and what evidence the FBI might have.
There's likewise no indication as to whether Trump himself is role of the probe. Trump stated in a short letter announcing Comey's firing on Tuesday that the FBI director had informed him iii times the president was "not under investigation," only there is no confirmation withal equally to whether that'due south truthful.
What we do know is that Trump was not happy with probes by Congress and the FBI. "The Russian federation-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade stop?" the president tweeted on Monday.
While details of the investigation are under wraps, there are a variety of known connections linking Russian federation and Wikileaks to several Trump aides, all of whom have denied any wrongdoing or involvement in the hacking.
Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, previously worked for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former prime minister of Ukraine. Roger Rock tweeted during the ballot almost credible impending Wikileaks releases and told NBC News in October he had "back aqueduct communications" with the grouping. Carter Page, who served a strange policy adviser, had business organization connections to Russian federation. Retired Lt. General Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser, was paid for an advent at an event in Russian federation held by state-sponsored television network RT in which he sat with Putin, amongst others.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Russian hacking, recently asked Page to provide a list of any contacts with Russian officials and The New York Times reports similar messages went out to Manafort, Stone and Flynn. And the committee has requested documents on Trump from the Treasury Departments'south coin laundering unit, NBC News had confirmed.
The Russian Administrator
There'due south some other relevant story that involves Russia, Flynn and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversaw the firing of Comey.
In Dec, the Obama administration announced it was instituting sanctions against Russian federation in response to its alleged interference in the entrada. The same solar day, Flynn spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak by phone. The side by side twenty-four hour period, Putin announced he would non retaliate for the sanctions, a move Trump praised on Twitter every bit a sign that Putin was "very smart."
The Trump administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, said Flynn did not talk over the sanctions in his conversation with Kislyak. Just this turned out to be faux and Trump fired Flynn in February for misleading Pence.
The Flynn story was back in the news this week because Sally Yates, the former acting Attorney General who Trump removed over her refusal to defend his travel ban in court, testified before Congress that she had warned the White House that Flynn'south claims were simulated and could leave him vulnerable to Russian bribery. He was not fired for some other xviii days, notwithstanding, and merely after the discrepancy became public through a story in the Washington Post.
Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his connections to Kislyak. When Yates was asked at Mon's Senate hearing whether Flynn lied to agents, she said answering would compromise an "ongoing FBI investigation."
Sessions had his own run-in with the Russian ambassador — and that has implications for the Russian federation investigation and Comey'due south ouster.
During his confirmation hearings, Sessions volunteered that he had no contact with Russian officials during Trump'southward entrada, in which he was part of the then-candidate'due south inner circle of advisers. But, equally Sessions afterward admitted, his statement was false: He had met with Kislyak.
In response, Sessions appear he would recuse himself from whatsoever probe into Russian ballot interference, saying, "I should non exist involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in."
On Tuesday, though, the White House announced in a argument the president had fired Comey — the human overseeing those same investigations — "based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney Full general Jeff Sessions."
Trump told NBC News on Tuesday that the firing had goose egg to practise with the Russian federation investigation. Instead, he said he was upset that Comey had to result a clarification nigh recent testimony to Congress regarding the FBI'southward investigation into Clinton's private e-mail server.
But Democrats and Republicans alike expressed concern about the implications nearly the firing'southward timing and Trump'due south explanation given the ongoing investigations. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Clinton'south sometime running mate, suggested on Twitter that the declaration conflicted with Sessions' decision to recuse himself.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/what-you-need-know-about-trump-comey-russia-probe-n757191
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