Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

We'll have to wait for the investigations to be finished, then wait to see how much is made public. This could take a very long time. The FBI probe has been active for 8 months already, but that alone is telling; if there's nothing to it, as Trump operatives and GOP lawmakers claim, then wouldn't the investigation have been concluded by now?

For lawmakers to draw conclusions at the BEGINNING of an investigation, is laughable at best, malfeasance at worst. Of COURSE there's no evidence of Trump campaign collusion with Russian operatives - because the FBI is STILL investigating - and the FBI does not release details of those investigations until they are done. The GOP's constant assertion that there is no evidence of collusion BEFORE that investigation is complete, is like a Judge releasing a suspected murderer immediately, because the police haven't produced evidence of guilt in advance of the investigation.

Here's the bottom line: we KNOW that several Trump operatives had contacts with Russian agents during the campaign and during the transition, then lied about those contacts. people behaving above board needn't lie about it. Of those that are KNOWN to have had such contacts, one resigned, one was fired and one recused himself from the ongoing investigation into those contacts. There are OTHER current and former operatives who have yet to face questioning - so far - but who are KNOWN to have had Russian contact. Two Trump operatives have had contact with Russian hackers and their willing/unwilling internet outlet, one of which has boasted about having had such contact ( Stone ).

Either Trump was a willing partner in treasonous activity, or he was pitifully unaware of what his people were doing, either of which makes him unfit to be President. Another problem the GOP has with this, is Pence, who would ordinarily become President should Trump resign ( to avoid prosecution ) or be impeached - but who has been implicated as well. Twice Pence has denied prior knowledge of treasonous activity, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, even after Flynn's own attorney's stated that THEY had informed Pence, and the acting AG has as well. Such pitiful lying is damning, as it is evidence of collusion, either in the acts themselves or the attempts at a cover up, either of which disqualifies him to be President.

I guess Ryan may become President yet.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

If Clinton had become President, we likely would be investigating that as well. The problem with your theory, beyond the "well, they did it too!" pedantic defense, is that it is well known that Putin HATED Clinton - and none of his people would have anything to do with her if they valued their life.

BTW, it isn't the contacts that are at issue, it the REASON for the contacts, the CONTENT of those meetings - and the fact that they all LIED about it, including Trump.

It is only "pulling something out of nothing", if there's nothing to begin with. It is QUITE clear, to non delusional people anyway, that there IS "something there".

If you really believe what you just said, I strongly suggest that you seek professional help.

Well the presidency of our bumbling fumbling pumpkin head of a president just keeps rolling along with the revelation yesterday that not only was Hillary under FBI scrutiny but so was pumpkin head and the twist is the he is still being investigated today. Whew!! Seem we should have been chanting "lock him up" too. You know, the thing is FBI investigations are carried out under the table. So Trump could have been investigated and if nothing had been found we never would have known about this but seems ole pumpkin head had to create a crisis by accusing our former president of wiretapping him and then, to double down, when our intelligence agencies couldn't be accused he accused our greatest allies of doing the tapping for Obama instead. And this would have been bad enough but Pumpkin head fans were repeating the lies with him. Come on people, some common sense please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/fbi-investigation-trump-russia-comey.html?_r=0

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the extraordinary step on Monday of announcing that the agency is investigating whether members of President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Mr. Comey’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee created a treacherous political moment for Mr. Trump, who has insisted that “Russia is fake news” that was cooked up by his political opponents to undermine his presidency. Mr. Comey placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House and said officers would pursue it “no matter how long that takes.”

Joined by Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, Mr. Comey also dismissed Mr. Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor during the campaign, a sensational accusation that has served as a distraction in the public debate over Russian election interference. Taken together, the two provided the most definitive statement yet that Mr. Trump’s accusation was false.

The New York Times and other news organizations have reported the existence of the investigation into the Trump campaign and its relationship with Russia, but the White House dismissed those reports as politically motivated and rallied political allies to rebut them. Mr. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. The F.B.I. discloses its investigations only in rare circumstances, when officials believe it is in the public interest.

“This is one of those circumstances,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said the F.B.I. was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Counterintelligence investigations are among the F.B.I.’s most difficult and time-consuming cases, meaning an investigation could hang over the Trump administration for years even though such inquiries rarely lead to criminal charges.

Trump and the Russians: Links? No Links? Depends On Whom You Ask
James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., said the agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Republicans and Democrats put their own spin on his statements. By SHANE O’NEILL and SUSAN JOAN ARCHER. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.

American intelligence agencies concluded in January that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia personally ordered a covert effort to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances and aid Mr. Trump. That included hacking political targets, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing embarrassing emails through the website WikiLeaks.

The White House dismissed most of Mr. Comey’s testimony, saying there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and so there was nothing to investigate. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said the more pressing issue was who disclosed classified information about Mr. Trump’s advisers to journalists, suggesting that they might have been former members of the Obama administration.

American officials have said that they have so far found no proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but current and former officials say they have uncovered evidence that Mr. Trump’s associates were in repeated contact with Russian officials — including people linked to Russian intelligence.

You can't possibly be this stupid, can you? Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser to Mr. Trump, has acknowledged communicating with Guccifer 2.0, an online persona believed to be a front for Russian intelligence officials involved in disseminating hacked Democratic emails. Mr. Stone has denied that there was anything improper about the contact, and he was one of many, including political operatives and journalists, to communicate with the hackers.

Last July, the month that WikiLeaks began releasing the hacked emails, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump, visited Moscow for a speaking engagement. Mr. Page has declined to say whom he met there, but he has said they were mostly scholars.

Michael T. Flynn, a Trump campaign adviser who went on to be his national security adviser, was paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015, including an American branch of a cybersecurity firm believed to have connections to Russia’s intelligence services, according to congressional investigators. Mr. Flynn was forced to resign after misrepresenting his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

We'll have to wait for the investigations to be finished, then wait to see how much is made public. This could take a very long time. The FBI probe has been active for 8 months already, but that alone is telling; if there's nothing to it, as Trump operatives and GOP lawmakers claim, then wouldn't the investigation have been concluded by now?

For lawmakers to draw conclusions at the BEGINNING of an investigation, is laughable at best, malfeasance at worst. Of COURSE there's no evidence of Trump campaign collusion with Russian operatives - because the FBI is STILL investigating - and the FBI does not release details of those investigations until they are done. The GOP's constant assertion that there is no evidence of collusion BEFORE that investigation is complete, is like a Judge releasing a suspected murderer immediately, because the police haven't produced evidence of guilt in advance of the investigation.

Here's the bottom line: we KNOW that several Trump operatives had contacts with Russian agents during the campaign and during the transition, then lied about those contacts. people behaving above board needn't lie about it. Of those that are KNOWN to have had such contacts, one resigned, one was fired and one recused himself from the ongoing investigation into those contacts. There are OTHER current and former operatives who have yet to face questioning - so far - but who are KNOWN to have had Russian contact. Two Trump operatives have had contact with Russian hackers and their willing/unwilling internet outlet, one of which has boasted about having had such contact ( Stone ).

Either Trump was a willing partner in treasonous activity, or he was pitifully unaware of what his people were doing, either of which makes him unfit to be President. Another problem the GOP has with this, is Pence, who would ordinarily become President should Trump resign ( to avoid prosecution ) or be impeached - but who has been implicated as well. Twice Pence has denied prior knowledge of treasonous activity, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, even after Flynn's own attorney's stated that THEY had informed Pence, and the acting AG has as well. Such pitiful lying is damning, as it is evidence of collusion, either in the acts themselves or the attempts at a cover up, either of which disqualifies him to be President.

I guess Ryan may become President yet.