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Grassley: Did FBI brief Trump campaign on Manafort, Russia?
[The Hill] Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wants know if the FBI warned the Trump campaign about attempts by individuals tied to Russia to "infiltrate" the organization.Grassley sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday asking if the bureau had given "defensive briefings" or otherwise alerted Trump officials about "potential connections between campaign officials and the Russian government." "If the FBI did provide a defensive briefing or similar warning to the campaign, then that would raise important questions about how the Trump campaign responded," wrote Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. If the FBI didn't brief the campaign, Grassley wants to know why not and who was involved in the discussions and if a controversial opposition research dossier ‐ which has been a frequent target of Grassley's ‐ impacted the decision. Grassley is asking that the FBI respond to his letter by Oct. 4. CNN reported this week that the FBI wiretapped the phones of Paul Manfort, Trump's former campaign chairman, during and after the 2016 campaign, using a secret court under obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Manafort has emerged as a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's election meddling and potential ties between Moscow and Trump campaign officials. Pointing to the CNN report, Grassley notes in his letter that recent press reports indicate that Manafort was being investigated by the federal government. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-09-22 |
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