Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation in early 2017 into whether President Trump was acting as a Russian asset, and The Washington Post reported that Trump went to extraordinary lengths to keep his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin secret, even from his own advisers. On Monday, CNN said transcripts from closed-door House interviews with FBI lawyers shed more light on what top FBI officials were thinking before they launched their extraordinary counterintelligence investigation of the president.
James Baker, who was then FBI general counsel, told House investigators that after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, remaining top FBI officials were trying to figure out whether Trump's odd Kremlin-friendly behavior meant he was "acting at the behest of and somehow following directions, somehow executing their will. ... That was one extreme. The other extreme is that the president is completely innocent, and we discussed that too." The FBI needed to investigate because it didn't know whether "the worst-case scenario is possibly true or the president is totally innocent and we need to get this thing over with — and so he can move forward with his agenda."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Best of frenemies: the famous faces back-pedalling and grovelling to win round Donald TrumpThe Explainer Politicians who previously criticised the president-elect are in an awkward position
-
Quiz of The Week: 9 - 15 NovemberHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will China's 'robot wolves' change wars?Podcast Plus, why are Britain's birds in decline? And are sleeper trains making a comeback?
-
Senate GOP selects Thune, House GOP keeps JohnsonSpeed Read John Thune will replace Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader, and Mike Johnson will remain House speaker in Congress
-
Trump tests GOP loyalty with Gaetz, Gabbard picksSpeed Read He named Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Both have little experience in their proposed jurisdictions.
-
Pentagon Discord leaker gets 15 years in prisonSpeed Read Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member, leaked classified military documents
-
Saudi crown prince slams Israeli 'genocide' in GazaSpeed Read Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions
-
Trump fills key slots, tapping Congress, MAGA loyalistsSpeed Read The president-elect continues to fill his administration with new foreign policy, environment and immigration roles assigned
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaosSpeed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
-
Trump tells next Senate GOP leader to skip confirmationsSpeed Read The president-elect said the next Senate majority leader must allow him to make recess appointments
-
Fed cuts rates, chair says he won't quit if Trump asksSpeed Read Jerome Powell was noncommittal on future rate cuts that were expected before Trump won the election
