White House dismisses suggestions of inappropriate interaction with law-enforcement agency
The White House acknowledged Friday that its chief of staff asked senior officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation to publicly refute a news report alleging repeated contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials, after it says the FBI told him the story was inaccurate.
.. Sean Spicer said that last week, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe approached White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus after a meeting at the White House to tell him a
New York Times story that morning reporting that Trump campaign aides had been in constant contact with Russian intelligence officials was “false.”
.. “And the answer was, ‘We don’t want to get in the middle of starting a practice of doing this.’ So our answer is, ‘Why did you come to us with this information if not to elicit a response?’”
.. Mr. Trump has previously said he would root out government officials who leak sensitive or classified information to the press.
.. I think you’ll see it stopping because now we have our people in.”
.. The attacks, criticism and leaks could have a long-term impact on the FBI, former officials said. “All it does is corrode the perception of independence,” said Ron Hosko, a former senior FBI official.