Any news related to Russia and Donald Trump is “fake,” according to the president’s scathing solo press conference last week. But just because Trump labels things he doesn’t agree with as “fake,” it doesn’t mean they are. In fact, the FBI has at least three separate probes into the alleged Russian election hacking, and the Bureau is also looking into the ties of Trump aides and former Russian intelligence officers before the November election.
Five current and former government officials familiar with the investigations revealed to Reuters details about three distinct investigations are currently underway, revealing more details about them than the previous reports.
The Pittsburgh office is looking to identify the people responsible for the Democratic National Committee’s hacks. The breaches took place in 2015 and first half of 2016 and exposed internal communications between the Democrats. This is the case that progressed furthest, but the officials say there’s not enough evidence for an indictment.
The San Francisco office is working on discovering the identities of the Guccifer 2 group, which was responsible for infiltrating John Podesta’s email account and leaking information.
Finally, the FBI counterintelligence office in Washington is pursuing leads and foreign communications intercepts. The FBI is looking into the financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have ties to Trump associates. The Bureau is looking at investments made by Russians in overseas entities that were made through middlemen and front companies. The counterintelligence investigation is also looking at the repeated contacts between Americans with ties to Trump or his campaign and former Russian intelligence officers.
