The Latest News about Crossfire Hurricane

Two former associates of Michael Flynn’s indicted on charges of illegal foreign lobbying are seeking reprieve in their cases, citing the Justice Department’s recent move to toss out charges against Flynn. Bijan Rafiekian, a former executive at Flynn Intel Group, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen asking the Justice Department to drop an appeal in his case.  Rafiekian ...

The FBI lawyer who signed a surveillance order against former Trump aide Carter Page that the Justice Department has deemed invalid submitted his resignation on Friday, the FBI said. Dana Boente, the FBI general counsel, has recently come under scrutiny over his role in the various investigations against former Trump advisers, including Michael Flynn and Carter Page. Boente signed one ...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday called on Sen. Mitch McConnell to cancel a hearing next week for Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general who launched the special counsel’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Schumer’s request is a far cry from earlier in the Trump administration, when he called for public hearings for ...

John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, provided Congress on Friday with declassified transcripts of phone calls in late 2016 between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, he said Friday. Flynn’s phone calls with Kislyak touched off a series of events that eventually led to the retired general pleading guilty in the special counsel’s ...

Attorney General William Barr appointed a federal prosecutor to review so-called “unmasking” requests that Obama administration officials submitted against Trump associates, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department said Wednesday. Kerri Kupec, the Justice Department spokeswoman, said on Fox News that Barr appointed John Bash, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, to conduct the review. Bash will carry ...

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed a special counsel to oversee the Trump-Russia probe, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 3, the panel announced on Wednesday. The open hearing will be the first to be held as part of the committee’s sweeping review of the FBI’s investigation and surveillance of the Trump campaign. Sen. Lindsey ...

As one of his last acts in office, Richard Grenell, the outgoing director of national intelligence, declassified a batch of Trump-Russia documents, including one that a senior U.S. intelligence official said is “very significant” to the origins of the Russia probe. Grenell also declassified transcripts of phone calls between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Fox News reported Tuesday. ...

As one of his last acts in office, Richard Grenell, the outgoing director of national intelligence, declassified a batch of Trump-Russia documents, including one that a senior U.S. intelligence official says is “very significant” to the origins of the Russia probe. According to Fox News, Grenell also declassified transcripts of phone calls between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...