Feinstein Asks Wray for Intelligence Not Included in Final Mueller Report
Feinstein asks Wray if Campaign Data Shared by Manafort Ended Up in Hands of Russian Intelligence
Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information that was not included in the final Mueller report.
Video of the exchange is available here.
Feinstein: “According to Special Counsel Mueller’s report, the FBI embedded personnel with Mueller’s team whose purpose was, ‘to review the results of the investigation and to send, in writing, summaries of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information to FBI headquarters and FBI field offices.’
“The Mueller report says that these summaries contain information that’s not included in the Mueller report itself. Have you reviewed these summaries and information?”
Wray: “Well, senator, I want to be careful not to be discussing the special counsel’s report, especially when the special counsel himself is going to be testifying at length tomorrow, but—”
Feinstein: “My understanding is they’re outside of the report per se.”
Wray: “What I would say is that as the report itself describes or explains, there have been a number of referrals that have made to the FBI. Beyond that, I really don’t feel comfortable commenting at this point.”
Feinstein: “Have you seen any summaries of information?”
Wray: “I have seen information that’s come out of the special counsel’s report and I’d leave it at that.”
Feinstein: “On this issue?”
Wray: “On a variety of issues.”
Feinstein: “Well, Congress hasn’t seen them, have they, have we?”
Wray: “I don’t know for sure, senator, exactly what different members of Congress have seen relative to the subject.”
Feinstein: “Would you make them available to Congress?”
Wray: “I’d be happy to talk with our folks. I know we’re having engagement with both of the intelligence committees and I can see where things stand in terms of information sharing that may be relevant to this topic.”
Feinstein: “I would make that request.
“The Mueller investigation confirmed that Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager spent several years working for Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who was closely aligned with Vladimir Putin—that’s in the Mueller report. And Mueller uncovered that during the presidential campaign Manafort provided Deripaska ‘private briefings’ Manafort also funneled internal campaign strategy, polling and messaging for the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota to Deripaska, that’s volume one of the Mueller report.
“Finally, we know Manafort told Special Counsel Mueller that, ‘if Trump won Deripaska would want to use Manafort to advance whatever interest Deripaska had in the United States and elsewhere.’
“Question: did the FBI assess the impact of Manafort providing this specific and significant campaign information to Russian intelligence?”
Wray: “Well, senator, there was an awful amount of work done by a huge team of professionals that resulted in a four-hundred-and-fifty-something page report and I really want to be careful not to be trying to add my own gloss or layering on top of that, especially with Special Counsel Mueller testifying tomorrow and I’m going to leave it at that for now.”
Feinstein: “All right, I would ask for a confidential briefing then, on this subject. You can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but I will request it. Did the FBI determine whether any of this information ended up in the hands of the IRA?”
Wray: “There’s really nothing I can say on that subject here senator.”
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