Both the New York Times and the Washington Post dropped stories about the FBI information who infiltrated the Trump campaign – and they seem awfully defensive about it.
Trump accused the FBI of sending a spy to secretly infiltrate his campaign “for political purposes."
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 19, 2018
In fact, the FBI sent an informant to talk to 2 campaign advisers only after receiving evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts tied to Russia. https://t.co/1fXg0IsGkt
So he made accusations “without evidence” that were true. So… you’re providing the evidence now.
President Trump accused the F.B.I. on Friday, without evidence, of sending a spy to secretly infiltrate his 2016 campaign “for political purposes” even before the bureau had any inkling of the “phony Russia hoax.”
In fact, F.B.I. agents sent an informant to talk to two campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign. The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain, made contact late that summer with one campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, according to people familiar with the matter. He also met repeatedly in the ensuing months with the other aide, Carter Page, who was also under F.B.I. scrutiny for his ties to Russia.
The role of the informant is at the heart of the newest battle between top law enforcement officials and Mr. Trump’s congressional allies over the F.B.I.’s most politically charged investigations in decades. The lawmakers, who say they are concerned that federal investigators are abusing their authority, have demanded documents from the Justice Department about the informant.
Law enforcement officials have refused, saying that handing over the documents would imperil both the source’s anonymity and safety. The New York Times has learned the source’s identity but typically does not name informants to preserve their safety.
Here’s what the Washington Post dropped:
BREAKING: An undercover professor and FBI informant tried to befriend three Trump campaign advisors in the summer and fall of 2016 -- and before the probe began . Me w @costareports @thamburger @DevlinBarrett https://t.co/VXrTvKJdGx
— Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) May 19, 2018
In mid-July 2016, a retired American professor approached an adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign at a symposium about the White House race held at a British university.
The professor took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Carter Page, whom Trump had named a few months earlier as a foreign policy adviser.
But the professor was more than an academic interested in American politics — he was a longtime U.S. intelligence source. And, at some point in 2016, he began working as a secret informant for the FBI as it investigated Russia’s interference in the campaign, according to people familiar with his activities.
The role played by the source is now at the center of a battle that has pitted President Trump against his own Justice Department and fueled the president’s attacks on the special counsel’s investigation. In a Thursday tweet, he called the probe “a disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt.”
The Dems are warning Republicans not to reveal who the informant was, and it almost sounds like a trap for Trump. Remember what Scooter Libby was snagged for? It was during an investigation that included the supposed outing of Valerie Jarrett during Dubya’s time…