Trump's comments about accepting foreign help reportedly wrecked 2 years of FBI work


Three months after President Trump appointed Christopher Wray as FBI director, Wray told Congress he'd set up a "foreign influence" task force, bringing together dozens of counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and cyber officials to work with FBI field offices, other federal law enforcement agencies, state and local governments, and social media companies to prevent the type of election interference Russia perpetrated in 2016. "Make no mistake — the scope of this foreign influence threat is both broad and deep," he told Congress in August 2017.
In his Wednesday night interview with ABC News, "Trump undercut the whole operation in a matter of seconds," Politico reports. Trump's stated willingness to accept dirt on domestic rivals from foreign governments has "undone months of work, essentially inviting foreign spies to meddle with 2020 presidential campaigns and demoralizing the agents trying to stop them."
Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub reminded America — and probably one American in particular — on Thursday night that "it is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election," including "foreign assistance." Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano made a similar point on Thursday afternoon. If Trump did what he proposed on ABC News, "he would be committing a felony," he told anchor Shepard Smith, and legally there's "no wiggle room with respect to dirt, with respect to opposition research."
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.
"The president of the United States of America is prepared to commit a felony to get re-elected — that was my [first] reaction, and it was not a happy one," Napolitano said. FBI officials probably agree. "It has to be demoralizing to some extent and confusing and, let's face it, unprecedented, to have a commander in chief who has such a lack of fundamental understanding about the work the Justice Department and intelligence community do in this area," Greg Brower, Wray's former top FBI congressional liaison, told Politico.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland