One way that the FBI sometimes does this is to overtly approach suspected agents and question them on their activities. That should have justified shutting down - neutralizing - any Russian operation immediately, even if it meant potentially losing long-term collection. presidential campaign by a hostile foreign power presented a grave national security threat of the highest order. Using a confidential intelligence source would have made sense if the FBI's long-term strategy was to allow Russia to believe it was operating undetected and to collect intelligence on Russian methods. The real question isn't why the FBI apparently tried to obtain intelligence from within Trump's campaign, though – it's why the bureau didn't do so more aggressively and directly. The Washington Post reports that the FBI is working to protect the purported source in light of Nunes's request and to "mitigate the damage" if his or her identity is disclosed, which suggests that this individual may be currently providing law enforcement authorities with intelligence and will need to cease if made public. So there is a high likelihood that this person is someone already familiar to Russian intelligence, and possibly someone who was already in Russian business or organized crime circles, which all have links back to Putin - which means the source would be in potential danger if discovered. To obtain information about Russia's intentions and methods, the FBI would have had to use someone who would not raise red flags if their interactions with campaign officials got back to Russia. Understanding that the FBI may have been using an intelligence source – not a criminal "informant" – also explains the Justice Department's concern about the purported source's safety. intelligence community had later picked up "chatter" on Russia's end following these interactions, the FBI could have verified that these individuals were, in fact, in communication with Russian operatives.
And that could have served to generate even more information: If the U.S. Sending a source to talk to suspected foreign agents like campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos could illuminate whether these individuals were being developed - or even tasked - as intelligence assets for Russia. The next logical step in a counterintelligence investigation would be to discern what Russia was trying to do with those people. In short, this entails identifying foreign intelligence officers and their network of agents uncovering their motives and methods and ultimately rendering their operations ineffective - either by clandestinely thwarting them (say, by feeding back misinformation or "flipping" their sources into double agents) or by exposing them.īy early summer 2016, according to the New York Times, the FBI had already identified at least four members of the Trump campaign with significant ties to or contacts with Russian intelligence. Rather than trying to find evidence of a crime, the FBI's counterintelligence goal is to identify, monitor and neutralize foreign intelligence activity in the United States. And relying on a covert source rather than a more intrusive method of gathering information suggests that the FBI may have been acting cautiously – perhaps too cautiously – to protect the campaign, not undermine it.Īs a former FBI counterintelligence agent, I know what Trump apparently does not: Counterintelligence investigations have a different purpose than their criminal counterparts. The investigation started out as a counterintelligence probe, not a criminal one. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has even subpoenaed the Justice Department for information on who the informant might have been department and FBI officials say public disclosures of this kind could put sources in danger.īut Trump and his backers are wrong about what it means that the FBI reportedly was using a confidential source to gather information early in its investigation of possible campaign ties to Russia. Supporters of the White House claim the FBI's reported tactics were illegal. "Really bad stuff!" the president tweeted early Friday. President Donald Trump and his allies are outraged at reports that the FBI used an "informant" to spy on Trump's 2016 campaign.
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