Reid: FBI has ‘explosive information’ about Trump, Russia

By Julian Hattem

10/31/16

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is alleging that the FBI has “explosive information” about a connection between Donald Trump and the Russian government, suggesting that federal investigators have unveiled damning new information about the Republican presidential nominee.

In a letter dated Oct. 30 warning that FBI Director James Comey may have broken the law by detailing a new stage of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of State, Reid also referenced information about Trump and Moscow.

“In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors and the Russian government — a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity,” Reid wrote to Comey this weekend.

“The public has a right to know this information.”

The Senate Democratic leader declined to offer additional details about the information or clarify how federal officials had discovered it.

A Reid spokesman, Adam Jentleson, said that Reid "has been briefed by the highest levels of the national security community and is aware that Comey has the information."

Reid has a history of making damning allegations against prominent Republicans without the facts to back them up. In 2012, for instance, Reid memorably took to the floor of the Senate to accuse then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney of not paying any taxes over the previous decade. The allegation turned out to be incorrect, though Reid has refused to apologize.

Nonetheless, his allegations over the weekend add new evidence to speculation that the FBI is actively investigating Trump’s potential ties to Russia, which have been a topic of fascination for months.

The GOP nominee has shown an unusual amount of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is usually a topic of scorn among Republicans in Washington.

Trump has refused to accept federal intelligence officials’ assertion that the Kremlin is intentionally interfering with the U.S. political system by hacking into organizations such as the Democratic National Committee. An adviser to Trump also reportedly met with Russian officials, raising eyebrows about the campaign's behavior.

Yet Comey has previously declined to address speculation about whether the bureau is actively probing any connections between the GOP nominee and Putin’s government.

“I’m not confirming that we’re investigating people associated with Mr. Trump,” Comey told the House Judiciary Committee in September, after initially claiming the Clinton matter was closed. “In the matter of the email investigation, it was our my judgment — my judgment, the rest of the FBI’s judgment — that those were exceptional circumstances where the public needed information.”

On Friday, Comey notified Congress that FBI officials had discovered additional emails in the Clinton case, adding drama in the final days of the presidential race.