Inside the FBI's top-secret investigation into Russia

The FBI has 15 to 20 agents working on a top-secret probe into Russia's potential election meddling, government officials familiar with the matter told CNN. In an article published Friday, CNN detailed the inner workings of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, the "super-secret world" that is home to the bureau's "spy catchers." The Counterintelligence Division — referred to as simply "CD" by bureau employees — handles high-level intelligence work, including protecting state secrets and keeping weapons of mass destruction out of hostile hands.

The Russia probe hinges around how the Russian government affected last year's presidential election — if at all — and whether the speculation over improper contact between President Trump's team and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak truly amounts to any concrete, improper behavior. The level of confidentiality is so high at CD that one agency source declined even to specify how many agents are working on the FBI's Russia investigation, resorting instead to a "mathematical equation to divulge ... the number of agents assigned to the matter," CNN explained.

Investigations conducted by the Counterintelligence Division can take years, and one former CD supervisor told CNN the work requires an extreme dedication to secrecy. "My wife knew where I worked. She did not really know what I did," the source said. "You're working in the shadows. You don't want to be noticed."

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Read more about the FBI's top-secret investigators at CNN.