DOJ offers new briefing as lawmakers dispute spy claim
WASHINGTON — Trying to combat President Donald Trump’s allegations of misconduct, the Justice Department is offering lawmakers a new look next week at classified documents on the FBI’s use of an informant in the Russia investigation.
The move comes as Republican congressional leaders are publicly disputing Trump’s claims that the government planted a spy in his 2016 campaign “to help Crooked Hillary win” — a reference to his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
Three senior Republicans who have been briefed on the matter, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, have now said they have not seen evidence that the FBI acted inappropriately. Still, Ryan said Wednesday that there is “more digging to do.”
“We have some more documents to review. We still have some unanswered questions,” Ryan said.
Late Wednesday evening, a senior Justice Department official said the department and the FBI would offer another briefing to lawmakers — the third briefing after two last month — to the so-called “Gang of 8,” which includes congressional leaders from both parties and the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees. The official said they would provide new materials and also “the documents that were available for review but not inspected by the members at the previous briefing.”
In offering a third briefing, the Justice Department is trying to blunt criticism from the House conservatives who have repeatedly pressed for documents and questioned the department’s conduct in the Russia inves- House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he saw no evidence of a spy being planted in the Trump campaign. tigation.
The Justice Department official said the new briefing would happen Monday or Tuesday, depending on members’ schedules, and that the DOJ is prepared to “brief members on certain questions specifically raised by Ryan and other members.”
The official declined to be named because the briefings are classified.
Ryan also noted Thursday that he has seen no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, which special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating. That echoed a House intelligence committee report released earlier this year.
On Wednesday, Ryan said he agreed with House Oversight and Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., that there is no evidence of a planted spy.
But it was Ryan who took the brunt of the blowback on conservative media, particularly from the GOP faction on Capitol Hill that has been leading the charge against the FBI and Justice Department’s handling of the Russia investigation.
“There is no defense today for Paul Ryan siding with the FBI and Department of Justice against those of us in the Congress who are working for transpar- ency and accountability,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said on Fox Business Network on Wednesday night.
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Thursday that Trump won’t do an interview in Mueller’s investigation unless they see the documents themselves.
Democratic congressional leaders, who say that giving Trump or his lawyers access to the materials would set a dangerous precedent for an ongoing investigation, have asked the Justice Department to let them know if they do give that access.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department inspector general anticipates making public June 14 his report reviewing how the FBI and the department handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, according to a letter sent to lawmakers Thursday.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report is expected to blast former FBI Director James Comey and other top bureau and Justice Department officials for the handling of the case, people familiar with it said. It will almost certainly be used by Trump to attack current and former law enforcement leaders.