TRUMP'S CONSPIRACY FANTASY LAND

 

For the last two and a half years we’ve been listening to the far-right led by President Trump perpetuate a series of unsupported conspiracy theories about the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election. He’s consistently called it a witch hunt, a hoax, and claimed that Obama had the FBI place spies in his campaign. Trump has also asserted that FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were part of a deep state conspiracy to throw the election in favor of Hillary Clinton. 

With the release of the FBI IG report this week, to the surprise of no one, we’ve learned that the investigation was founded on legitimate suspicions based on information gathered from Australian sources. The IG also found no evidence that the FBI placed informants in the Trump campaign. It also concluded that agents Strzok and Page were not the driving force behind the investigation, and that political bias was not a factor in the investigation. There were significant errors in the FBI’s applications for wiretaps on Trump campaign official Carter Page, but ultimately there was no basis for Trump’s conspiracy theories. 

Even without the IG report, Trump’s claims quickly fall apart as being completely beyond reason. Below I’ve put together a timeline of some of the key dates in the FBI investigations into Clinton’s email server and the possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The FBI opened its investigation into Clinton in the summer of 2015 and soon after publicly confirmed it. Then after clearing her of criminal wrongdoing, in July 2016, just 10 days before the November election and in violation of FBI policy, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening the investigation. He took this action even though early voting had already begun, and he was aware of the impact it would have on the election. The investigation was being reopened as a result of the discovery of new emails, despite the fact that most of them were duplicates that had already been examined and were unlikely to materially change the previous conclusion. 

Unbeknownst to the public, even while the headlines were dominated with the Clinton email investigation, the FBI had already opened an investigation into possible Trump campaign collusion with the Russians. So, while Comey was making a public spectacle out of the Clinton investigation, he kept the existence of the Trump investigation a secret until after Trump’s victory and inauguration. Trump is President today because of the FBI’s public mishandling of the Clinton investigation. Trump was well aware of this fact and publicly lavished praise on Comey until after the inauguration when the FBI Director proved to be more independent than Trump had hoped. The question that should be asked is, did the FBI intentionally sabotage the Clinton campaign to aid Trump, or did they simply have an error in judgment in the handling of the case? The idea that the FBI was part of some deep-state conspiracy against Trump is completely out of touch with reality. 

Timeline of important dates in the Clinton and Trump investigations. Blue dates indicate a Clinton event and Red a Trump event. 

July 10, 2015 — The FBI opened a criminal investigation, code-named “Midyear Exam,” into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information while secretary of state. 

August 5, 2015 — The FBI publicly confirmed the existence of the investigation into Clinton’s use of private email server while she was Secretary of State. 

July 2, 2016 — Hillary Clinton was interviewed by FBI for three-and-a-half hours. 

July 5, 2016 — Comey issued a surprise statement on the email server investigation recommending no charges against Clinton while accusing her of being extremely careless in the handling of classified information. Comey made the announcement without prior approval of the Dept. of Justice, saying DOJ officials “do not know what I am about to say.” 

July 31, 2016 — The FBI begins investigating possible links between the Russian government and Trump’s campaign. The investigation is triggered when Australian authorities contact the agency — realizing that Papadopoulos‘s May mention of Russian dirt to Downer, the diplomat, was validated by the release of stolen data. 

October 2016 — The FBI asks the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a warrant to eavesdrop on Trump campaign official Carter Page. In its application, the FBI says it believes Page “has been collaborating and conspiring” with the Russian government to influence the outcome of the election. 

October 28, 2016 — Comey wrote to Congress about the Clinton investigation saying, “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Lynch and Yates privately said the letter ran afoul of DOJ policy. 

October 31, 2016 — Trump praises Comey for reopening the investigation into Clinton’s emails saying, “It took a lot of guts . . . a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. What he did was the right thing.” He later goes on to say he respects the FBI director. 

November 6, 2016 — A second Comey letter to Congress concerning the Clinton investigation stated, “Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July.” CNN reported that DOJ agreed with decision to send letter. 

November 8, 2016 — Donald Trump is elected President of the United States. 

January 22, 2017 — Days after becoming President Trump publicly hugs Comey and jokes, “He’s become more famous than me.” 

March 20, 2017 — Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee and, for the first time, confirms the existence of the investigation into Russian hacking and possible links to the Trump campaign. 

May 3, 2017 – Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Putin’s hatred of Hillary Clinton prompted him to interfere in the election in support of Donald Trump. Putin also believed that Russia would be able to make better deals (for Russia) with Trump than with Clinton. 

May 7, 2017 — Trump drafts an initial letter explaining why he believed Comey should be fired, including that Comey wouldn’t publicly clear Trump’s name. 

May 9, 2017 — Trump fires Comey 

May 11, 2017 — The president tells NBC’s Lester Holt that the firing was because “this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.” 

May 17, 2017 — Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appoints former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation.