White House Declassifies Fbi Investigation Into Whether Trump Was Working As Russian Asset

The FBI opened an investigation successful 2017 into whether President Trump was “wittingly aliases unwittingly” a Russian intelligence asset, according to documents declassified by nan White House.

The documents include a May 16, 2017, filing, which cited nan FBI’s anterior Crossfire Hurricane probe into Russian predetermination meddling, arsenic good arsenic nan firing that period of FBI Director James Comey.

The investigation sought successful portion to probe whether “President Trump and others yet to beryllium named obstructed and/or conspired to obstruct immoderate associated FBI investigation,” noting that nan president’s rationale for firing Comey had “changed complete time.”

The president initially cited Comey’s handling of nan Hillary Clinton email scandal, though Trump later claimed he axed nan FBI head because “this Russia thing” was a “made up story.”

In a statement posted connected nan White House website connected Wednesday, John Solomon, president of nan White House Government Transparency Task Force, criticized nan investigation arsenic portion of a concatenation of events that clouded nan first Trump term.

“It prompted nan assignment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller...and a astir two-year probe that hampered nan commencement of nan Trump presidency moreover though Mueller’s team, for illustration nan FBI earlier it, was incapable to substantiate immoderate collusion betwixt Russia and Trump’s run during nan 2016 election,” Solomon wrote.

The FBI joined successful nan disapproval of nan past investigations.

“The weaponization that occurred against President Trump nether anterior regimes was inexcusable and wholly un-American,” Ben Williamson, adjunct head of nan FBI Office of Public Affairs, said successful a connection to The Independent. “Assistant Director Patel himself was nan lead interrogator who primitively exposed nan disgraceful Crossfire Hurricane ungraded - and arsenic Director, he has released complete 40,000 pages of documents to nan nationalist exposing akin malfeasance from erstwhile FBI activity - a threefold summation from some his predecessors combined.”

The FBI investigation, fixed nan different sanction Oxferd Comma, was closed successful early 2019, soon aft nan conclusion of nan Mueller investigation, which recovered that Russia-linked individuals contacted nan Trump run but that nan run had not "conspired aliases coordinated" pinch them.

Special counsel John Durham later investigated nan origins of Crossfire Hurricane. In a 2023 report, he criticized nan FBI for a “lack of analytical rigor” arsenic it probed Trump’s imaginable Russia ties, but he did not reason “wholesale changes” were needed astatine nan FBI.

The Trump management continues to knock and scrutinize Comey, a salient professional of nan president.

The Justice Department has accused Comey of threatening to termination President Trump for posting a photo of seashells arranged to show nan numbers "86 47" successful May 2025. (To “86” is simply a slang word to remove, while Trump is nan 47th president.)

Comey later apologized for nan station and said he was unaware it could person convulsive connotations.

Lawyers for nan erstwhile FBI head person accused nan White House of pursuing a “vindictive and selective prosecution.”

Comey is seeking to get nan lawsuit dismissed.