Papadopoulos accepted the offer and arrived in London two weeks later, where he met for several days with the academic and one of his assistants, a young woman. “I understand that this is rather sudden but thought that given your expertise it might be of interest to you,” the informant wrote in a message to Mr. The informant offered a $3,000 honorarium for the paper and a paid trip to London, where the two could meet and discuss the research project. The academic inquired about his interest in writing a research paper on a disputed gas field in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, a subject of Mr. Papadopoulos knew about the hacked Democratic emails, and one month after their Russia investigation began, Mr. agents were seeking more details about what Mr. in past years, according to one person familiar with the source’s work.į.B.I. The informant is well known in Washington circles, having served in previous Republican administrations and as a source of information for the C.I.A. “The day that we can’t protect human sources is the day the American people start becoming less safe.” Their identities must not be exposed, he said, hinting at congressional efforts to obtain the name of the source. director, testified before Congress on Wednesday. Informants take great risks when working for intelligence services, Christopher A. paid the source or assigned the person to other cases. It is not clear how long the relationship existed and whether the F.B.I. Flynn.ĭetails about the informant’s relationship with the F.B.I. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his future national security adviser, Michael T. As part of the operation, code-named Crossfire Hurricane, the F.B.I. Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” months before WikiLeaks released stolen messages from Democratic officials. Papadopoulos was told that Moscow had compromising information on Mrs. officials concluded they had the legal authority to open the investigation after receiving information that Mr. agents to interview them could have created additional risk that the investigation’s existence would seep into view in the final weeks of a heated presidential race.į.B.I. had announced in a high-profile news conference that it had closed the case involving Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, according to current and former law enforcement officials.Īfter opening the Russia inquiry about a month later, they took steps, those officials said, to ensure that details of the inquiry were more closely held than even in a typical national security investigation, including the use of the informant to suss out information from the unsuspecting targets. asked for help in gathering information on the former campaign advisers, or that agents veered from the F.B.I.’s investigative guidelines and began a politically motivated inquiry, which would be illegal.īut agents were leery of disrupting the presidential campaign again after the F.B.I. No evidence has emerged that the informant acted improperly when the F.B.I. Implications: Despite the differences between them, the cases involving the president and his predecessor are similar enough that investigators may have a harder time prosecuting Mr.Comparison With Biden Case: The disclosure that classified documents from President Biden’s time as vice president were found by his lawyers in a former office prompted comparisons to Mr.Trump’s handling of classified documents. Garland appointed Jack Smith, a longtime prosecutor, to take over the inquiry into former President Donald J. Special Counsel: Attorney General Merrick B.The New York Times has learned the source’s identity but typically does not name informants to preserve their safety. Law enforcement officials have refused, saying that handing over the documents would imperil both the source’s anonymity and safety. The lawmakers, who say they are concerned that federal investigators are abusing their authority, have demanded documents from the Justice Department about the informant. Trump’s congressional allies over the F.B.I.’s most politically charged investigations in decades. The role of the informant is at the heart of the newest battle between top law enforcement officials and Mr. He also met repeatedly in the ensuing months with the other aide, Carter Page, who was also under F.B.I. The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain, made contact late that summer with one campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, according to people familiar with the matter. agents sent an informant to talk to two campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign. on Friday, without evidence, of sending a spy to secretly infiltrate his 2016 campaign “for political purposes” even before the bureau had any inkling of the “phony Russia hoax.” WASHINGTON - President Trump accused the F.B.I.
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