[Federalist] A 2017 letter from the FBI, responding to a senator’s inquiry about the nature of the agency’s counterintelligence briefings with the Trump campaign, was contradicted on Wednesday by the testimony of Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz. This latest revelation of FBI lies exposes more undue spying and abuse of power at the highest levels of the intelligence agency.On September 20, 2017, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa sent a letter to the FBI Director Christopher Wray, asking about whether or not the FBI ever provided the Trump campaign with a defensive briefing regarding Russian interference in 2016.
"I write to inquire about whether the FBI ever provided the Trump campaign with a defensive briefing or other warning regarding attempts to infiltrate the campaign by people connected with, or compromised by, Russian intelligence," Grassley wrote.
On October 26, 2017, the FBI responded saying they did provide a counterintelligence defense briefing to then candidate Donald Trump and other campaign officials.
"In August of 2016 the FBI provided a counterintelligence defensive briefing to then candidate Donald Trump and other senior campaign officials. This defensive briefing was conducted by an experienced FBI counterintelligence agent and focused on the broad range of threats posed by foreign intelligence entities," wrote Gregory Brower, assistant director in the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs.
During Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with Horowitz on Wednesday, an exchange with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina uncovered how the FBI not only failed to brief the Trump campaign on the alleged Russian interference they were so concerned about, but used their meeting with the campaign as an opportunity to spy.
"If this is a counterintelligence investigation, who are they trying to protect?" Graham asked Horowitz.