U.S. Department of Justice
Attorney Work Product // May Contain Material Protected Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)
to assure him that the FBI was not investigating him personally.[1] Comey recalled he did not want the President-Elect to think of the conversation as a "J. Edgar Hoover move."[2]
On January 10, 2017, the media reported that Comey had briefed the President-Elect on the Steele reporting,[3] and BuzzFeed News published information compiled by Steele online, stating that the information included "specific, unverified, and potentially unverifiable allegations of contact between Trump aides and Russian operatives."[4] The next day, the President-Elect expressed concern to intelligence community leaders about the fact that the information had leaked and whether they could make public statements refuting the allegations in the Steele reports.[5]
In the following weeks, three Congressional committees opened investigations to examine Russia's interference in the election and whether the Trump Campaign had colluded with Russia.[6] On January 13, 2017, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCT) announced that it would conduct a bipartisan inquiry into Russian interference in the election, including any "links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns.[7] On January 25, 2017, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) announced that it had been conducting an investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with the political campaigns.[8] And on February 2, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it too would investigate Russian efforts to intervene in the election.[9]
- ↑ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 3-4; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 2).
- ↑ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 3.
- ↑ See, e.g., Evan Perez et al., Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him, CNN (Jan. 10, 2017; updated Jan. 12, 2017).
- ↑ Ken Bensinger et al., These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties To Russia, BuzzFeed News (Jan. 10, 2017).
- ↑ See 1/11/17 Email, Clapper to Comey ("He asked if I could put out a statement. He would prefer of course that I say the documents are bogus, which, of course, I can't do."); 1/12/17 Email, Comey to Clapper ("He called me at 5 yesterday and we had a very similar conversation."); Comey 11/15/17 302, at 4-5.
- ↑ See 2016 Presidential Election Investigation Fast Facts, CNN (first published Oct. 12, 2017; updated Mar. 1, 2019) (summarizing starting dates of Russia-related investigations).
- ↑ Joint Statement on Committee Inquiry into Russian Intelligence Activities, SSCI (Jan. 13, 2017).
- ↑ Joint Statement on Progress of Bipartisan HPSCI Inquiry into Russian Active Measures, HPSCI (Jan. 25, 2017),
- ↑ Joint Statement from Senators Graham and Whitehouse on Investigation into Russian Influence on Democratic Nations' Elections (Feb. 2, 2017).
the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Russia. Rtskhiladze 4/4/18 302, at 12. Cohen said he spoke to Trump about the issue after receiving the texts from Rtskhiladze, Cohen 9/12/18 302, at 13. Rtskhiladze said he was told the tapes were fake, but he did not communicate that to Cohen. Rtskhiladze 5/10/18 302, at 7.
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