The FBI launched an investigation into whether Donald
Trump had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests – and
Trump went to extraordinary lengths to conceal from his own administration the
details of his conversations with Russian president Vladimir Putin, according
to two bombshell reports.
The New York Times reported on Friday that law
enforcement officials were so concerned about Trump’s behavior after he fired
James Comey as FBI director that they launched a counterintelligence
investigation into whether he was acting as a Russian agent, either
intentionally or unwittingly.
According to another report by the Washington Post, Trump
has taken unusual steps to conceal the contents of his discussions with Putin.
After meeting with the Russian president in Hamburg in 2017, the Post reported,
Trump took his interpreter’s notes and instructed him not to disclose what was
discussed to other US officials.
On Saturday night, Trump was asked by a Fox News host
whether he had ever worked for Russia.
“I think it’s the most insulting thing I’ve ever been
asked,” he said.
He did not give a yes or no answer.
As for his conversations with Putin, he said: “I’m not
keeping anything under wraps, I couldn’t care less.”
On Sunday, Democrats said the latest revelations raise
serious questions about Trump’s relationship with Putin and Russia.
“Why is he so chummy with Vladimir Putin – this man who
is a former KGB agent, never been a friend to the United States, invaded our
allies, threatens us around the world, and tries his damndest to undermine our
elections?” Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said on ABC’s This Week.
“Why is this President Trump’s best buddy? I don’t get it.”
Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate
intelligence committee, said it was suspicious that Trump has “parroted” the
policies of Putin.
“I do think it’s curious that throughout that whole
summer when these investigations started, you have Vladimir Putin policies
almost being parroted by Donald Trump,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“You had Trump say only nice things about Putin – he
never spoke ill about Russia. The Republican campaign doctrines softened on
Russia and decreased their willingness to defend Ukraine.”
Warner said the US government still does not know what took place in Trump’s meetings with Putin, including another in Helsinki last summer where Trump appeared to embrace Putin’s claim, rejected by US intelligence, that his country had nothing to do with an interference effort in the 2016 election.
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“The American
government does not know what was discussed between Trump and Vladimir Putin in
that frankly pathetic, embarrassing encounter,” Warner said.
Republicans defended the president, saying the US during
his administration has imposed tough sanctions against Russia in response to
its interference campaign during the 2016 election and its aggression in
Ukraine.
“We’ve been very tough on Russia,” House Republican
leader Kevin McCarthy said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “Look at the sanctions
that we have taken with this administration. I know this administration and I
know this Congress is very tough on Russia and we will continue to be so. But I
want this president to be able to build a relationship, even on a person level,
with all the world leaders.”
Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican senator and chair of
the homeland security committee, said he had only heard “innuendo” about
Trump’s interactions with Russia, not any evidence of improprieties. He said
there were legitimate reasons to want to guard the president’s conversations
with Putin.
“This is not a traditional president,” he told CNN. “He
has unorthodox means, but he is president of the United States. It is pretty
much up to him in terms of who he wants to read into his conversations with
world leaders. He was burned by leaks in other areas and he was pretty
frustrated.”
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of
the president, was more forceful, telling Fox News Sunday: “I am going to ask
the FBI director: ‘Was there a counterintelligence investigation opened up
regarding the president as being a potential agent of the Russians?’ I find it
astonishing.
“If this really did happen, Congress needs to know about
it. How could the FBI do that? What kinds of checks and balances are there?”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not answer specific
questions about whether he was aware of the FBI counterintelligence work when
he directed the CIA.
“The notion that President Trump is a threat to American
national security is absolutely ludicrous,” he told CBS.
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