What's the Dif?

For John, BLUF:  So is The Old Gray Lady now the publicist for the FBI.  Wouldn't that be a violation of Contract Law, services rendered without payment, a violation of the Antideficiency Act?.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims

From The Old Gray Lady, by Reporters Adam Goldman, Mark Mazzetti and Matthew Rosenberg, 18 May 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

President Trump accused the F.B.I. on Friday, without evidence, of sending a spy to secretly infiltrate his 2016 campaign “for political purposes” even before the bureau had any inkling of the “phony Russia hoax.”

In fact, F.B.I. agents sent an informant to talk to two campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign.  The informant, an American academic who teaches in Britain, made contact late that summer with one campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, according to people familiar with the matter.  He also met repeatedly in the ensuing months with the other aide, Carter Page, who was also under F.B.I. scrutiny for his ties to Russia.

"In fact"?  How do we know this is a "fact"?

Because the FBI says so?  Officially?  Or to Congress?  Or in a leak to the newspaper?

Is this the same newspaper that Former FBI Director James Comey unethically leaked information about his conversations with the President while both were officials?♠

Then there is the whole issue of why this particular "spy" (Investigator) would be in jeopardy if the name were to ooze out?  If just an FBI Investigator hired on the spot market, it makes no sense.  If a CIA assets working traplines in other countries, then there should well be a concern, but that is someone a little more "high priced" that your average pickup investigator.  And who is funding all the travel and the money for a 1,500 word paper?♥

Hat tip to The Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Bonus Question.  If Mr Comey lied to the President, is that a Martha Stewart kind of crime, for which he should face jail time?
♥  Need a 1,500 word paper written for $3,000, contact me.