WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray regarding mounting evidence of political bias against the Trump Campaign during the 2016 election cycle. 

Graham wrote, “Although I appreciate the FBI’s diligence in identifying the staffer with potential ties to the Chinese government and providing Senator Feinstein with a defensive briefing, I am deeply troubled that the Trump Campaign was not afforded the same treatment when the FBI began to suspect that campaign staffers George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort had improper ties to the Russian government. It appears that rather than provide then-candidate Donald Trump or Trump Campaign officials with a defensive briefing to inform them of the FBI's concerns, the Bureau opted to use a confidential informant and a dossier funded by the Democratic National Committee to launch an unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into the Trump Campaign.”

He continued, “It is paramount that political considerations never drive the FBI's decision about whether to provide a politician or a campaign – particularly a potential President of the United States – a defensive briefing regarding potential espionage threats.”

The full text of the letter is below.

August 16, 2018

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

 

The Honorable Christopher Wray

Director

Federal Bureau of Investigation

935 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20535

Dear Director Wray:

Reports have recently emerged that several years ago, a staffer in Senator Dianne Feinstein's California office was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly acting as a Chinese spy. Senator Feinstein stated, "The FBI told me 5 years ago it had concerns that China was seeking  to recruit an administrative member of my [California] staff...."^[1]   She stated that the FBI "reviewed the matter" and "shared its concerns" with her, and she took appropriate action.^[2]

Although I appreciate the FBI’s diligence in identifying the staffer with potential ties to the Chinese government and providing Senator Feinstein with a defensive briefing, I am deeply troubled that the Trump Campaign was not afforded the same treatment when the FBI began to suspect that campaign staffers George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort had improper ties to the Russian government. It appears that rather than provide then-candidate Donald Trump or Trump Campaign officials with a defensive briefing to inform them of the FBI's concerns, the Bureau opted to use a confidential informant and a dossier funded by the Democratic National Committee to launch an unprecedented counterintelligence investigation into the Trump Campaign.

It is paramount that political considerations never drive the FBI's decision about whether to provide a politician or a campaign – particularly a potential President of the United States – a defensive briefing regarding potential espionage threats.

Accordingly, please answer the following questions:

1. For the last ten years, what were the FBI's protocols for briefing politicians and campaigns about potential espionage threats? Specifically, why did the Bureau decide to brief Senator Feinstein about a threat from a staffer tied to the Chinese government, but fail to do the same for the Trump campaign?
2. Upon developing concerns that Trump Campaign staffers George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort had improper ties to the Russian government, what defensive briefings did the FBI provide to then-candidate Trump or the Trump Campaign? What additional steps did the FBI take to inform then-candidate Trump or the Trump Campaign of the potential threat?
3. Given the continuing efforts by Russia and other bad actors to influence American elections, what policies does the FBI have in place to warn current and future candidates of foreign efforts and attempts to infiltrate their campaigns?

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

 

Lindsey O. Graham

United States Senator

#####

 

 

^[1] Dianne Feinstein, Twitter (August 4, 2018, 4:05 PM),

https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/ I025820020390207495.

² Brooke Singman, FBI's Handling of Alleged Feinstein Spy Spurs Claims of Double Standard with Trump Campaign, FOX NEWS, August 7, 2018, available at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/07/fbis-handling­alleged-feinstein-spy-spurs-claims-double-standard-with-trump-campaign.html.