CNN has transcripts detailing why the FBI launched its investigation into Trump and Russia

CNN reports on House transcripts detailing FBI thinking on Trump and Russia

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNN)

published 14 January 2019

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."

Another former FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, told House investigators that "this case had been a topic of discussion for some time," and there was "an indecision and a cautiousness on the part of the bureau with respect to what to do and whether there was sufficient predication to open." Theoretically, Baker said, "if the President of the United States fired Jim Comey at the behest of the Russian government, that would be unlawful and unconstitutional." "Is that what happened here?" asked Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas). "I don't know," Baker said, then a FBI lawyer cut him off.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.