Material from Russia investigation went missing as Trump left office
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Highly classified information connected to a probe into Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 US election disappeared in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – Material from a binder with highly classified information connected to the investigation into Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 US election disappeared in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The disappearance of the material, known as the “Crossfire Hurricane” binder for the name given to the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), vexed national security officials and set off concerns that sensitive information could be inappropriately shared, one of the sources said.
The material’s disappearance was reported on Dec 15 by CNN. The matter was so concerning to officials that the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed about it in 2022, a US official said.
The binder consists of a hotchpotch of materials related to the origins and early stages of the Russia investigation that were collected by Trump administration officials. They included copies of botched FBI applications for national security surveillance warrants to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser as well as text messages between two FBI officials involved in the inquiry, Mr Peter Strzok and Ms Lisa Page, expressing animus towards Trump.
The substance of the material – a redacted version of which has since been made public under the Freedom of Information Act and is posted on the FBI’s website – is not considered particularly sensitive, the official said.
But the raw version in the binder contained details that intelligence agencies believe could reveal secret sources and methods. (The publicly available version contains numerous portions that were whited-out as classified.)
It is not clear if the missing material comprises the entire original binder of material provided to the White House for Trump’s team to review and declassify in part before leaving office.
Among other murky details, it is not known how many copies were made at the White House or how the government knows one set is missing.
The binder has been a source of recurring attention since January 2021, just before Trump left office. At the time, Trump’s aides prepared redactions to some of the material it contained because the then President – who was obsessed with the Russia investigation and believed his political enemies had used it to damage his presidency – planned to declassify it and make it public.
Officials made several copies of the version with the redactions, which some Trump aides planned to release publicly. NYTIMES
