The White House has released classified FBI documents regarding Trump's possible ties to Russia
The White House has declassified documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that confirm that in 2017, the agency opened a criminal investigation into then-U.S. President Donald Trump over suspicions of possible ties to Russia.
According to the released documents, in May 2017, the FBI launched an investigation codenamed “Oxferd Comma.”
The impetus for opening the case was the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey.
Investigators examined the theory that the newly elected U.S. president might have knowingly or unknowingly acted in the interests of the Russian Federation, which could potentially pose a threat to national security or violate federal law.
At the same time, internal documents indicate that a significant portion of FBI personnel did not support the grounds for opening such an investigation.
Documents dated May 16, 2017, indicate that the investigation was launched based on the assumption of possible Russian influence on the U.S. president.
However, the documents confirm that at the time the case was opened, law enforcement had no evidence of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign team during the 2016 presidential campaign.
In 2023, Special Counsel John Durham, in his report released by the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded that the FBI did not have sufficient grounds even to open the initial “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, which concerned possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The “Oxford Comma” investigation was closed on April 9, 2019.
Based on the results of its investigation, the FBI found no evidence that Donald Trump had ties to Russia, and the case was therefore closed.
This was reported in a White House statement.
As a reminder, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has expanded its cooperation with law enforcement agencies in Russia and China in the fight against transnational crime. This move has raised concerns among former U.S. intelligence officials.
As a reminder, Patrick Yarokh, the head of one of the FBI’s divisions, was charged with two federal counts after an investigation determined that he had transferred nearly $1 million from cryptocurrency accounts linked to Russia to his own crypto wallet.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel plans to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in October. The trip is being organized amid tense relations between the U.S. and Russia.
