FBI to investigate Russian interference in US elections

FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Thursday that the bureau will investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, a move that comes as President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is being investigated for alleged lying to Vice President Mike Pence.

The move is one of several steps the bureau is taking to prevent future meddling in US democracy.

The FBI and the Department of Justice are also investigating a series of Russian meddling attempts that Trump himself acknowledged to be aimed at his own political campaign.

Flynn was fired after it was revealed that he misled Vice President Pence about his discussions with Russia’s ambassador to the US about sanctions on Russia.

The bureau and the Justice Department will also investigate whether Russia sought to influence the 2016 election through the WikiLeaks website.

“The FBI and Justice Department are actively pursuing new and emerging cyber-espionage, foreign cyberactivity, and foreign influence operations aimed at the United States of America, the Department’s Inspector General, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Congress,” Wray said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with the intelligence community and others to find, deter, and disrupt those efforts.”

Wray added that the FBI has been investigating the “vast right-wing conspiracy” of Trump, his administration, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The agency is also probing Russian attempts to influence voting by Americans in the November 2016 election, which Trump and his supporters won.

Wray also noted that Russia is not the only actor trying to influence American elections, and said that Russia’s efforts have included cyberattacks on US corporations and the election system.

WRAY’S MEETING WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE The president has not met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was Trump’s first nominee for the position.

Sessions has since recused himself from any investigation into Russia’s interference in the election.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, also was not invited to a White House meeting last week with FBI Director Wray, who met with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The meeting was attended by Ryan and White House officials including Priebus.

The Justice Department also said in the statement that the two sides had discussed the bureau’s investigations and that they were “working together on additional steps.”

The White Senate declined to comment to Business Insider on the invitation, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

The two sides met again in person on Thursday and again in private.

WPA officials also did not answer questions about the meeting.

WORD ON PERSISTENT STATE OF DEATH The White Houses official position is that the White House has not decided whether to issue a formal statement in support of the president’s decision to fire Flynn.

But, the White Houses officials said in their statement, “the President will honor the Office of Special Counsel’s recommendation, and that will not change.”

The statement was released after The New York Times published a story Thursday detailing an account of a former White House official, who claimed the president had asked the WhiteHouse counsel to fire Mueller.

The Times story detailed a meeting in March between President Trump and a senior member of the Office to the Special Counsel, the lead counsel overseeing the Russia probe.

During the meeting, according to the Times, Trump asked the president to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

At the time, the Times reported, White House counsel Don McGahn, who had been appointed to the post by Trump, was unaware of the request.

“At that time, McGahn told associates that the president wanted to dismiss Mueller,” the Times report said.

The Washington Post also reported that during the meeting with McGahn the president asked him to “cut a deal” with the special counsel, who would be allowed to continue his work.

The newspaper said McGahn’s response was that the decision had already been made.