FBI hits paydirt on evidence Donald Trump campaign colluded with Russia to harm Hillary Clinton
The FBI has now moved beyond merely investigating the general links and communications between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia. The FBI is now graduating to investigating evidence that points to the Trump campaign and Russia colluding for the specific purpose of strategically harming Hillary Clinton in the election. This new revelation from CNN goes so far as to confirm that the Trump campaign was giving the Russian government the “thumbs up” on when to release stolen information.
This is a crucial shift, because it means that members of the Donald Trump campaign are now being pursued as criminal conspirators. The Russian hacking was a felony; knowingly being involved in a conspiracy to commit a felony means you’re essentially just as guilty of that felony. The CNN report does not identify which Trump advisers were part of the illegal conspiracy. However, it’s long been widely reported that the FBI has been investigating Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Carter Page, and Roger Stone for their Russian contacts.
This new revelation may have been what House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff was referring to earlier today when he upgraded his own assessment of the evidence. Schiff had stated as recently as two days ago that there was “circumstantial evidence” of collusion, and “direct evidence” of deception. But today he held a televised press conference and stated that there is now “more” than circumstantial evidence of collusion. Schiff is one of two members of the committee who are being actively briefed on the most severely classified evidence in the Trump-Russia investigation.
Even if the FBI does not have evidence that Donald Trump himself was involved in this criminal conspiracy, it can use the guilt of his advisers to get them to flip on Trump in exchange for leniency. This new CNN revelation now changes the entire ballgame. Contribute to Palmer Report
