Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, said Friday he is working on declassifying transcripts of phone calls between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Grenell revealed his plans in an exchange on Twitter with Rep. Eric Swalwell regarding a request Friday from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for transcripts of the ...

Rep. Adam Schiff is calling for the declassification and release of a transcript of phone calls between Michael Flynn and former Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak.  “We need to ensure a transparent and complete public record free of political manipulation,” wrote Schiff.  The request marks a dramatic shift for the California Democrat. Throughout the Trump-Russia probe, Schiff led the charge to ...

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Friday ordered an internal investigation into whether any bureau employees engaged in misconduct in the probe of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser. In a statement, the FBI said that Wray ordered the bureau’s inspection division “to conduct an after-action review of the Michael Flynn investigation.” The review will “evaluate the relevant facts related ...

Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog group, released the FBI document that opened Crossfire Hurricane.  The FBI launched the probe based on a tip from former Australian diplomat Alexander Downer regarding George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide.  U.S. Attorney John Durham is investigating the FBI’s actions leading up to Crossfire Hurricane. The government transparency group Judicial Watch has published the ...

A top prosecutor on the special counsel’s team will headline a fundraiser next month for former Vice President Joe Biden. Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department, will take part in a “fireside chat” for the Biden Victory Fund to be held online on June 2. The event will be moderated by Anne Milgram, the former attorney general for New Jersey. ...

The identity of Michael Flynn was never ‘masked’ in an intelligence report that was later leaked to the media about the retired general’s phone calls with a Russian diplomat. The FBI wiretapped the phone call in question, The Washington Post confirmed in a report on Wednesday.  The report puts the FBI in a more pivotal role in handling the intelligence ...

Former British spy Christopher Steele peddled an unfounded rumor in December 2016 that Michael Flynn had an extramarital affair with a Russian woman, according to documents released earlier in May.  Months before Steele discussed Flynn, the FBI offered to pay the ex-spy to collect intelligence on Flynn and other Trump associates who were the targets of a counterintelligence investigation.  An ...

A Senate committee voted along party lines Wednesday to subpoena a Democratic consulting firm that worked for Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company linked to Hunter Biden. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee authorized the subpoena for Blue Star Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting and lobbying firm owned by Karen Tramontano and Sally Painter, two former Bill Clinton ...

Two Republican senators dramatically expanded their request for so-called Obama administration unmasking records on Tuesday, saying in a letter to the U.S. government’s top spy chief that they are “increasingly concerned” that surveillance of Trump campaign aides began earlier than the FBI has previously acknowledged. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson sent a letter to acting Director of National Intelligence ...

The FBI relied heavily on media reporting, often based on leaks, to justify taking additional steps in Crossfire Hurricane, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of public records. FBI officials relied on the so-called news hooks to conduct interviews with Michael Flynn. A series of news hooks also led to the publication of the now-debunked Steele dossier. The ...

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on June 4 whether to authorize subpoenas for documents and testimony from more than 50 current or former government officials, including James Comey and John Brennan, as part of the panel’s investigation into abuse of the surveillance process during Crossfire Hurricane. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary panel, said that the committee ...

Attorney General William Barr poured cold water Monday on the idea that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will face criminal charges in connection with the surveillance activities against associates of President Donald Trump. “As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will ...

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday submitted the fifth and final volume of its report on Russian interference in the 2016 election to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for a declassification review. Sens. Richard Burr and Mark Warner, the chairman and vice-chairman of the committee, respectively, said that they have submitted a redacted and unclassified version of ...

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Friday that he has yet to be interviewed by the federal prosecutor investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, but that he is willing to do so and has “nothing to hide.” “I feel very good that my tenure at CIA and my time at the White House during the Obama administration was not ...

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the leak of Michael Flynn’s identity to the media in 2017 was “an absolute crime” that should be “prosecuted vigorously.” In an interview on Fox Business, Sessions, who is running for a Senate seat in Alabama, discussed revelations about Obama administration officials unmasking Flynn’s identity in foreign intelligence reports during the presidential ...