The FBI launched a secret criminal investigation into President Donald Trump days after he fired then-Director James Comey in 2017, examining whether the newly elected president could have been acting as an agent of Russia, according to newly declassified White House records.
The internal documents, released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, show the case was given the codename “Oxferd Comma” and formally opened on May 16, 2017, just one week after Comey’s dismissal.
According to the opening electronic communication, investigators sought to determine whether Trump had knowingly or unknowingly acted on behalf of the Russian government and whether his actions violated federal law or posed a national security threat.
“The FBI is opening a full investigation based on an articulable factual basis that reasonably indicates that President Donald J. Trump may be or has been, wittingly or unwittingly, involved in activities for or on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation which may constitute violations of federal criminal law or threats to the national security of the United States,” the document states.
“The goal of the investigation is to determine if President Trump is or was directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes,” it added. “In addition, this investigation will also seek to determine whether President Trump and others yet to be named obstructed and/or conspiracy to obstruct any associated FBI investigation.”
The memo was prepared by the FBI’s counterintelligence division and approved by then-General Counsel James Baker and then-Assistant Director for Counterintelligence William Priestap.
Investigators pointed to Trump’s public explanations for Comey’s firing as part of their rationale for opening the case.
“This alternative explanation can be reasonably read to imply that the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation was a factor in President Trump’s decision to terminate Comey,” the memo states.
The records also show then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein were informed that the investigation had been opened.
Although the FBI classified the matter as a “sensitive investigative matter” and described it as “the least intrusive method” available, the investigation quickly became far more consequential.
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Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller shortly afterward, triggering a nearly two-year investigation that hung over the early years of Trump’s presidency. Mueller ultimately did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Years later, Special Counsel John Durham concluded the FBI lacked sufficient grounds to open the original Crossfire Hurricane investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion.
The newly released records also show the Oxferd Comma investigation was closed on April 9, 2019, shortly after Mueller completed his work.
“The Special Counsel provided the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining his prosecution and declination decisions,” the closing memo states.
The declassification comes as federal prosecutors in Fort Pierce, Florida, are reportedly examining whether officials at the FBI, Department of Justice and intelligence agencies engaged in a broader conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Trump and his supporters through investigations allegedly lacking evidence.
The documents also shed new light on the bureau’s theory at the time, revealing investigators specifically explored whether Trump could have been acting as an asset of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
That premise had already drawn skepticism from within the FBI, according to previously released bureau records tied to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
In one text exchange sent the same week Oxferd Comma was opened, then-Deputy Assistant Director Pete Strzok questioned whether the underlying allegations could be substantiated.
“I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there,” Strzok wrote to FBI special counsel Lisa Page on May 19, 2017.
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