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From: Alexandra Preate <
Date: Sat, 12 May 2018 08:23:58 -0400
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Subject: WSJ
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OPINION
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• POTOMAC WATCH
About That FBI 'Source'
Did the bureau engage in outright spying against the 2016 Trump campaign?
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes at the Conservative Political Action Conference,
Feb. 24 at National Harbor, Md. PHOTO: JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS
HOUSE OVERSIGHT 021109
By
Kimberley A. Strassel
May 10, 2018 6:50 p.m. ET
1663 COMMENTS
The Department of Justice lost its latest battle with Congress Thursday when it agreed to brief House
Intelligence Committee members about a top-secret intelligence source that was part of the FBI's
investigation of the Trump campaign. Even without official confirmation of that source's name, the news so
far holds some stunning implications.
Among them is that the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation outright hid critical
information from a congressional investigation. In a Thursday press conference, Speaker Paul Ryan bluntly
noted that Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes's request for details on this secret source was "wholly
appropriate," "completely within the scope" of the committee's long-running FBI investigation, and
"something that probably should have been answered a while ago." Translation: The department knew full
well it should have turned this material over to congressional investigators last year, but instead deliberately
concealed it.
House investigators nonetheless sniffed out a name, and Mr. Nunes in recent weeks issued a letter and a
subpoena demanding more details. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's response was to double
down—accusing the House of "extortion" and delivering a speech in which he claimed that "declining to
open the FBI's files to review" is a constitutional "duty." Justice asked the White House to back its
stonewall. And it even began spinning that daddy of all superspook arguments—that revealing any detail
about this particular asset could result in "loss of human lives."
This is desperation, and it strongly suggests that whatever is in these files is going to prove very
uncomfortable to the FBI.
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The bureau already has some explaining to do. Thanks to the Washington Post's unnamed law-enforcement
leakers, we know Mr. Nunes's request deals with a "top secret intelligence source" of the FBI and CIA,
who is a U.S. citizen and who was involved in the Russia collusion probe. When government agencies refer
to sources, they mean people who appear to be average citizens but use their profession or contacts to spy
for the agency. Ergo, we might take this to mean that the FBI secretly had a person on the payroll who used
his or her non-FBI credentials to interact in some capacity with the Trump campaign.
This would amount to spying, and it is hugely disconcerting. It would also be a major escalation from the
electronic surveillance we already knew about, which was bad enough. Obama political appointees
rampantly "unmasked" Trump campaign officials to monitor their conversations, while the FBI played dirty
with its surveillance warrant against Carter Page, failing to tell the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
that its supporting information came from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Now we find it may have also been
rolling out human intelligence, John Le Carr& style, to infiltrate the Trump campaign.
Which would lead to another big question for the FBI: When? The bureau has been doggedly sticking with
its story that a tip in July 2016 about the drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos launched its
counterintelligence probe. Still, the players in this affair—the FBI, former Director Jim Comey, the Steele
dossier authors—have been suspiciously vague on the key moments leading up to that launch date. When
precisely was the Steele dossier delivered to the FBI? When precisely did the Papadopoulos information
come in?
And to the point, when precisely was this human source operating? Because if it was prior to that infamous
Papadopoulos tip, then the FBI isn't being straight. It would mean the bureau was spying on the Trump
campaign prior to that moment. And that in turn would mean that the FBI had been spurred to act on the
basis of something other than a junior campaign aide's loose lips.
We also know that among the Justice Department's stated reasons for not complying with the Nunes
subpoena was its worry that to do so might damage international relationships. This suggests the "source"
may be overseas, have ties to foreign intelligence, or both. That's notable, given the highly suspicious role
foreigners have played in this escapade. It was an Australian diplomat who reported the Papadopoulos
conversation. Dossier author Christopher Steele is British, used to work for MI6, and retains ties to that spy
agency as well as to a network of former spooks. It was a former British diplomat who tipped off Sen. John
McCain to the dossier. How this "top secret" source fits into this puzzle could matter deeply.
I believe I know the name of the informant, but my intelligence sources did not provide it to me and refuse
to confirm it. It would therefore be irresponsible to publish it. But what is clear is that we've barely
HOUSE OVERSIGHT 021111
scratched the surface of the FBI's 2016 behavior, and the country will never get the straight story until
President Trump moves to declassify everything possible. It's time to rip off the Band-Aid.
Correction
The FBI briefed House Intelligence Committee members about a top-secret intelligence source but did not
allow them to see documents. An earlier version of this article misstated this.
Alexandra V. Preate
Chief Executive Officer
Ca italH
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