FBI suspected Trump of working for Russia - archived documents surface

The White House released declassified FBI documents from 2017 about a secret investigation into Donald Trump's alleged cooperation with the Kremlin. The probe, codenamed Oxferd Comma, began after FBI Director James Comey was fired on May 9, 2017. The documents indicate that the basis was suspicions that many FBI employees did not find convincing. The investigation was closed on April 9, 2019, for lack of evidence.

The White House released declassified FBI documents from 2017 revealing a secret investigation into Donald Trump's alleged cooperation with the Kremlin. The probe, codenamed Oxferd Comma, started immediately after FBI Director James Comey's dismissal on May 9, 2017. According to the published memos, the basis for the investigation was suspicions that, as noted in the documents, many FBI employees later did not find convincing. A document dated May 16, 2017, states that the Bureau opened a full-scale investigation because there were grounds to suspect that Trump might have consciously or unconsciously acted in the interests of the Russian government. The main goal was to determine whether the president was under the influence of Russian authorities or coordinated with them in actions that could harm national security. The case was granted the status of a particularly sensitive investigation. At the same time, the documents indicate that the investigation was opened despite the absence of confirmed evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia during the 2016 campaign. Later, Special Counsel John Durham conducted a separate review of the circumstances surrounding the launch of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. His report, published in 2023, concluded that the FBI lacked sufficient grounds to initiate the initial investigation. The investigation was officially closed on April 9, 2019, after investigators found no evidence of a Trump-Russia connection. The materials also state that Comey's dismissal was subsequently deemed justified. Additionally, a version is mentioned that the investigation could have been initiated as part of a political campaign to discredit Trump, but this is not an established judicial fact.