The FBI in 2017 investigated whether President Donald Trump was acting on behalf of Russia when he fired then-FBI Director James Comey, according to declassified documents released by the White House on Wednesday.The investigation, code-named “Oxferd Comma,” was opened as a subcomponent of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s broader inquiry into potential ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government. John Solomon, founder and editor-in-chief of Just the News, briefed the public on Wednesday morning on the documents and previewed their release in an article he authored and published on the White House’s webpage.The documents were released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force after being declassified by Trump and White House counsel David Warrington. The task force also compiled previously disclosed evidence that it said contradicted the basis for opening the investigation.
The predicate for Oxferd Comma was Trump’s May 2017 decision to remove Comey shortly after taking office, according to the documents declassified on Wednesday. FBI agents characterized the inquiry as the least intrusive means of addressing what they considered a serious national security concern, according to information released by the White House.The case was designated sensitive, limiting its visibility within the bureau, and was later folded into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.Solomon, a conservative investigative journalist known for pursuing leads related to the origins and fallout of the Trump-Russia investigations, said the records show the FBI investigated Trump on the theory that he was acting as a Russian agent when he dismissed Comey over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.He argued that the bureau possessed significant information contradicting that theory when Oxferd Comma was opened. By that point, Solomon said, agents had identified problems with the Steele dossier, cleared former national security adviser Michael Flynn of suspected collusion, and been told that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had previously served as a CIA operational contact.The declassified release also revealed a text message in which then-FBI official Peter Strzok told bureau lawyer Lisa Page that there was “no big there there,” as well as concerns raised by FBI agent William Barnett, who worked on the Flynn investigation. Barnett later told investigators that he had not found evidence of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and believed the inquiry had become a fruitless exercise.The release also renewed scrutiny of former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote a memorandum criticizing Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation before Trump dismissed the FBI director.
