A troubling new report says that James Comey may have intervened in the 2016 presidential election because he was misled by fake Russian document about an agreement between the Clinton campaign and the Department of Justice on whether or not Hillary Clinton revealed classified information with her use of email.
The Washington Post reported, “In the midst of the 2016 presidential primary season, the FBI received a purported Russian intelligence document describing a tacit understanding between the campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Justice Department over the inquiry into whether she intentionally revealed classified information through her use of a private email server….Current and former officials have said that document played a significant role in the July decision by then-FBI Director James B. Comey to announce on his own, without Justice Department involvement, that the investigation was over. That public announcement — in which he criticized Clinton and made extensive comments about the evidence — set in motion a chain of other FBI moves that Democrats now say helped Trump win the presidential election. But according to the FBI’s own assessment, the document was bad intelligence — and according to people familiar with its contents, possibly even a fake sent to confuse the bureau.”
The Russian meddling may not have been limited to spreading fake news and colluding with the Trump campaign. The Russians may have also passed along fake intelligence to the FBI to get Comey to intervene in the election. If this report is true, it raises serious questions about why the FBI would not take steps to verify the document before Comey ever held that disastrous July 2016 press conference. They are the FBI. They should never be taking intelligence documents obtained by a hostile foreign power at face value.
The Russian manipulation of the US presidential election may have gone deeper than anyone imagined.
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If the FBI got fooled by a fake Russian intelligence document, they bear responsibility for Donald Trump currently residing in the White House.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
