FBI Memos Reveal Secret Trump-Russia Probe After Comey Firing

Was the Russia investigation a weaponized witch hunt against Trump or a legitimate national security inquiry?
FBI Memos Reveal Secret Trump-Russia Probe After Comey Firing
Above: Donald Trump (L) and James Comey in the Blue Room of the White House on Jan. 22, 2017. Image credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Spin


Republican narrative

The FBI opened a secret criminal probe on a sitting president, knowing full well the collusion case was already dead — agents had debunked the Steele dossier and Strzok himself admitted there was "no big there there." Comey's firing was just a pretext to keep the investigation alive and get Mueller appointed. This was a deliberate abuse of law enforcement power to take down a duly elected president.

Democratic narrative

The Russia investigation was opened for legitimate reasons and conducted appropriately, as the Justice Department's own inspector general confirmed — no partisan bias, a valid predicate and essential national security work. Comey acknowledged problems with the Carter Page surveillance but stood firmly behind the overall probe. Treating procedural errors as proof of a grand conspiracy ignores the documented evidence of Russian election interference.


Metaculus Prediction



The Controversies



Go Deeper

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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.7.3