Comey Firing Prompted FBI Investigation into Whether Trump Was Working for Russia

President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey triggered an FBI investigation as agents feared the president was working on behalf of the Russian government, the New York Times reported late Friday, citing law enforcement and others familiar with the investigation.

This new reporting reveals that the investigation into Trump was much bigger than we knew and that it was two-pronged, with both counterintelligence and criminal components. The counterintelligence part was concerned with whether Trump, knowingly or unknowingly, was working as an agent of the Russian government against American interests. The criminal aspect of the probe regarded whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey.

“Not only would it be an issue of obstructing an investigation, but the obstruction itself would hurt our ability to figure out what the Russians had done, and that is what would be the threat to national security,” former FBI general counsel James A. Baker testified to House investigators in October, according to the Times.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller inherited both parts of the investigation, which became his probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and Trump’s role in it.

While the bureau had decided not to investigate Trump’s Russia ties directly during the campaign, focusing on his associates instead, they did become suspicious when Trump exhibited behavior that seemed friendly to Russia. For example, during a press conference, Trump spoke directly to the camera and addressed Russia, asking them to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. The FBI also noticed Trump refused to criticize Russian leader Vladimir Putin and that the GOP softened and removed language from its platform supporting Ukraine, which Russia had recently invaded.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-trump-russia-investigation-778318/