Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., reacted to the revelation that an FBI agent involved in the “Crossfire Hurricane” Russia investigation “actively listened” for certain topics during a briefing on election interference given to the Trump campaign in August 2016, saying “they were right to do it.”
“I hope they do it if a Democratic candidate ever does that with any country,” Swalwell said Friday on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “So, Martha, remember right before this meeting occurred, candidate Trump said, ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you have Hillary’s emails.’ And what do they do? They actually did it. So think about it.”
SOURCE SAYS FBI AGENT USED 2016 BRIEFING ON ELECTION INTERFERENCE AS ‘COVER’ TO QUESTION TRUMP TEAM
Fox News obtained a document that reflects type-written notes by FBI agent Joe Pientka after an August 17, 2016 briefing to then-candidate Donald Trump, Michael Flynn and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “in support of ODNI briefings provided to U.S. Presidential candidates and two of their advisors.”
The briefing, which was held at the FBI’s New York Field Office, also included a “13-minute defensive briefing” delivered by Pientka. The document states that FBI officials Kevin Clinesmith and Peter Strzok “approved” Pientka’s notes.
Swalwell slammed Trump and accused the president of lying about being briefed.
“By the way, he says in the meeting, ‘Joe, are the Russians bad?’ It’s like, yes, the Russians are bad and don’t eat glue,” Swalwell said. “Like, should we even have to tell you that? … He told the country for years, but he was never given this briefing.”
MacCallum pressed Swalwell who, stuck to beliefs that Trump conspired with Russia.
“So President Trump was under investigation. Jim Comey said he was not. He said that to Congress under oath,” MacCallum said to Swalwell. “So the president was indeed under investigation.”
“What would you want a counterintelligence official to do when the president is asking the Russians to hack and they’re actually hacking,” Swalwell said. “I hope they look into him. I hope if Joe Biden was doing this with any other foreign country that is seeking to influence our elections that the FBI would look into it, thankfully they did not but that’s kind of their job.”
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MacCallum continued to press on the new information, saying Trump was not aware of the briefing, only for Swalwell to defend the actions of the FBI.
“He’s given pictures and graphs now because he doesn’t have the attention span to listen,” the congressman said.
