Comey Firing Prompted FBI To Probe Whether Trump Was Secretly Working On Behalf Of Russia: NY Times

In the days after President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey in early 2017, the FBI launched a secret inquiry into whether or not Trump was working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to a bombshell report by The New York Times.

Former law enforcement officials told the Times that agents and more senior FBI officials were suspicious of Trump’s ties to Russia during his 2016 campaign, but held off on opening an investigation because of the sensitive and potentially explosive implications that it came with.

It was only after Trump twice tied the firing of Comey to his desire to put an end to the Russia investigation that officials decided to launch an inquiry into “whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security,” per the Times.

FBI officials reportedly felt validated when it was later revealed that Trump had told Russian officials in the Oval Office, “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off,” just days after the Comey firing.

“Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security,” the Times report noted. “Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES: "Following Trump’s firing of James Comey as F.B.I. director, the bureau grew increasingly concerned about whether the president’s actions constituted anti-American activity."

Read that sentence as many times as you need to in order to *really* let it sink in.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 12, 2019

I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THIS: pic.twitter.com/m2I7WOdW5K

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 12, 2019

This always felt like a central question of the Mueller investigation. Kudos to the NYT for digging out how it got started. The big question now is how it will finish. https://t.co/sf00ZnGBY4

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) January 12, 2019

What this does likely mean is that sometime soon a reporter is going to straight up have to ask Trump: “are you a Russian asset?” And it will be a legit question.

— Sam Stein (@samstein) January 12, 2019