House Judiciary Committee investigators have spoken to an FBI whistleblower about FBI Director James B. Comey’s alleged off-the-books spying on President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The whistleblower, a former supervisory special agent, previously said in a protected disclosure to the committee that Mr. Comey sent a “honeypot” to spy on the Trump campaign before launching the now-infamous Crossfire Hurricane operation.
A “honeypot” is an undercover operative who feigns sexual or romantic interest to obtain information from a target.
Mr. Comey, a fierce Trump critic who was booted from the FBI by the president, was also recently questioned by the Secret Service for a social media post widely interpreted as a threat against Mr. Trump.
Mr. Comey posted a photo on his Instagram account of seashells on the beach arranged to spell “86 47” with the comment, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
The numeral “86” can refer to removing or killing. Mr. Trump is the 47th president.
The whistleblower interviewed by the Judiciary Committee described the “honeypot” operation in a protected disclosure in October. The disclosure was delivered through whistleblower attorney Kurt Siuzdak, as The Washington Times first reported.
The FBI veteran said two female FBI undercover agents infiltrated Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign at high levels and were directed to act as “honeypots” while traveling with Mr. Trump and his campaign staff.
After the Judiciary Committee investigators questioned the whistleblower, a spokesman for the committee said: “The whistleblower has already spoken to us and we are still engaging on this issue with relevant parties.”
The Washington Times reached out to the FBI for comment.
In March, FBI Director Kash Patel disputed that one of the female undercover FBI agents was a “honeypot.” He took to social media to dispute the characterization.
“Just like when I exposed grotesque violations and fraud leading the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Crossfire Hurricane, calling out corrupt actors, I will equally defend those attacked falsely,” Mr. Patel said. “A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure — she was NOT a honeypot.”
According to the whistleblower disclosure, which The Times first reviewed, the off-the-books investigation differed from the later Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence operation targeting Russian collusion. The earlier probe was a criminal investigation targeting Mr. Trump and his campaign staff. It did not appear to target a specific crime but was more of a “fishing expedition” to find something incriminating about Mr. Trump.
The agent “personally knew” that Mr. Comey ordered an FBI investigation against Mr. Trump and that Mr. Comey “personally directed it,” according to the disclosure.
Additionally, the whistleblower said the undercover operation was an “open secret” at FBI headquarters. It was widely known that one of the undercover agents was being debriefed by Mr. Comey himself and that both of the “honeypot” agents used body recorders.
Electronic tape recordings are generally kept in electronic Surveillance evidence storage. However, according to the disclosure, the tapes were not in evidence storage because they would need an investigation file number, and the “honeypot” operation did not have a file number.
