According to a document declassified by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Trump's intelligence briefings as a presidential candidate in 2016 were conducted by FBI agents who were working on the Russia investigation, Politico reported on Thursday.
"The agents’ decision to monitor the briefing appeared aimed at gleaning information from Trump’s close adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who attended the briefing with Trump, and then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was Trump’s transition team leader at the time," reported Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desidiero. "Flynn was codenamed 'Crossfire Razor' by investigators, and the document heading includes a reference to his case. At the time, Trump had recently secured the Republican presidential nomination."
"The summary indicates that the agent coordinating the briefing, Joe Pientka — also one of the agents who later interviewed Flynn days after Trump’s inauguration in 2017 — paid special attention to any mentions that Trump or Flynn made of Russia," continued the report.
Ratcliffe rendered this document to Congress as part of the Trump administration's efforts to discredit the Russia probe.
