Bill Priestap, the high-ranking FBI official responsible for overseeing both the Clinton email investigation and the agency’s counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, appears to have not really been in control of his own investigations.
In closed-door testimony before congressional lawmakers in June last year, Priestap, who served as the head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, acknowledged it was mostly FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI analyst Jonathan Moffa who were “driving the train.”
Talking to lawmakers, Priestap described the unusual circumstances under which he inherited the team in January 2016, saying the members had been previously handpicked by an unknown high-ranking official at the FBI.
In his June 5, 2018, testimony—a transcript of which was reviewed for this article—Priestap appears to have been unaware of key meetings that took place between Strzok and the second-highest ranking official at the FBI, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Priestap’s congressional interview was conducted in an unclassified setting, with the appropriate agency counsel present to ensure that classified information didn’t enter into the unclassified setting.
When questioned about text messages sent between Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page that showed a strong bias in favor of Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump, Priestap told lawmakers “it wasn’t the Pete Strzok that I know.”
Priestap also said he was unaware of a meeting Strzok had with McCabe and Page—who served as counsel to McCabe—that was described in the now-infamous “insurance policy” text message.
“Somebody talking about an insurance policy, I would have asked, ‘What the heck do you mean by that?’” Priestap said in the interview before the House Judiciary Committee.
The FBI investigation into Clinton was opened on July 10, 2015, by Randall Coleman, then-head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division and predecessor to Priestap. At this time, McCabe was the assistant director in charge at the Washington Field Office and Strzok was an assistant special agent in charge at the Washington Field Office.
Approximately two months after the opening of the Clinton investigation, FBI leadership asked for the transfer of hand-selected agents from the Washington Field Office. Strzok was one of those chosen, and he was moved to FBI headquarters probably in September or October 2015.
According to Priestap, Coleman had “set up a reporting mechanism that leaders of that team would report directly to him, not through the customary other chain of command” in the Clinton email investigation. Priestap, who said he didn’t know why Coleman had “set it up,” kept the chain of command in place when he assumed Coleman’s position in January 2016.
Priestap Unaware of Key Conduit at DOJ
The FBI relied in large part on allegations contained in the so-called Steele dossier in obtaining a FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The author of the dossier, former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, as well as the company he was hired by, Fusion GPS, were both feeding information to the FBI through different channels.A key conduit for Steele to the FBI was high-ranking DOJ official Bruce Ohr.
Ms. Shen: “So you have never worked with Bruce Ohr on a counterintelligence --”
In either late September or early October 2016, Ohr had another meeting, this time with Strzok, Page, and two or three DOJ career officials from the criminal division: Bruce Swartz, Zainab Ahmad, and Andrew Weissman (Ohr testified that he was unsure whether Weismann was at this or a later meeting).
Priestap Unaware How Often Strzok Met With McCabe
Text messages sent between Strzok and Page, which were first obtained by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, suggest that McCabe was a preferred line of direct communication for Strzok. These same texts indicate that both Strzok and Page frequently met directly with McCabe. Priestap admitted he did not know the frequency of such meetings:Mr. Brebbia: “Would they frequently meet with then Deputy Director McCabe without you being there?”
“And as a result, in this particular case, Pete would often be a point person if I was, for example, half the day at the Central Intelligence Agency, and things came up, they could go direct -- ’they' meaning my 7th floor, EAD, deputy director, would know they could go straight, of course, with Pete.
Page’s role as special counsel to McCabe has been described by former FBI general counsel James Baker in congressional testimony as being both unique and undefined.
Priestap Inherited the Investigation
A repeating theme throughout Priestap’s testimony was his assertion that “I inherited the investigation and I inherited the investigative team.” The decision to prosecute the Clinton case as a counterintelligence matter, instead of a criminal investigation, also occurred before Priestap’s tenure. Priestap repeatedly stated that he “wasn’t there for those decisions.”Mr. Parmiter: “So, sir, you also in addition to -- another question about you sort of inheriting the investigation. We just talked for a while about the makeup of the team or teams, the investigative team, the team that briefed the Director.”
Mr. Priestap: “[It’s] my understanding it was the first, that people were hand selected.”
McCabe, Strzok Moved to HQ for Clinton Investigation
Starting in October 2015 and continuing through the first three months of 2016, FBI Director James Comey made a series of high-profile reassignments that resulted in the complete turnover of the upper-echelon of the FBI team working on the Clinton email investigation:- Oct. 12, 2015: Louis Bladel was moved to the New York Field Office.
- Dec. 9, 2015: Charles “Sandy” Kable was moved to the Washington Field Office.
- Dec. 1, 2015: Randall Coleman, assistant director-head of counterintelligence, was named as executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, and was replaced by Bill Priestap.
- Feb. 1, 2016: Mark Giuliano retired as deputy director and was replaced by Andrew McCabe.
- Feb. 11, 2016: John Giacalone retired as executive assistant director and was replaced by Michael Steinbach.
- March 2, 2016: Gerald Roberts, Jr. was moved to the Washington Field Office.
Strzok told lawmakers last year that the “Mid-Year Exam” investigation on Clinton was opened out of headquarters by Coleman. Strzok also noted that Kable was involved in that effort. The FBI investigation into the Clinton emails was formally opened on July 10, 2015.
Strzok said the decision to open the Clinton case at FBI headquarters as opposed to the Washington Field Office was made by senior executives at the FBI—certainly at or above Coleman’s level. At this time, Coleman was serving as the head of the FBI’s counterintelligence division—the same position Priestap would take over in January 2016.
Strzok would shortly rejoin his old boss. Approximately two months after opening the Clinton investigation, FBI headquarters reached out to the Washington Field Office, saying they needed greater staffing and resources “based on what they were looking at, based on some of the investigative steps that were under consideration.”
Strzok was one of the agents selected and, likely in September or early October 2015, he was assigned to the Mid-Year Exam team and transferred to FBI headquarters.
Strzok, in his comments to lawmakers, acknowledged that the newly formed investigative team was largely made up of personnel from the Washington Field Office and FBI headquarters.
This new structure resulted in some unusual reporting lines that went outside the normal chains of command. Strzok, who did not normally fall under Priestap’s oversight, was now reporting directly to him. Priestap described the structure as being established by his predecessor, Randall Coleman, during his testimony:
“I don’t know why he [Coleman] set it up, but he set up a reporting mechanism that leaders of that team would report directly to him, not through the customary other chain of command. And I kept that on when I assumed responsibility,” Priestap said.
The Affair Notification
It was Priestap that sat down with Strzok and Page and told them he’d heard rumors about their ongoing affair. Priestap noted during his June 5 interview that he had this discussion “about a year ago,” placing the meeting in mid-2017. Priestap was informed of the possibility of the affair by one of Strzok’s two co-managers in the Clinton email investigation—either Moffa or FBI lawyer Sally Moyer:Mr. Priestap: “I spoke to Deputy Director McCabe about it. I also spoke to both Pete and Lisa about it. I felt I owed it to them. Lisa did not report to me, but I felt that they ought to be aware of what was being said. I didn’t ask them if it was true, but they needed to know that that impression was out there.
The Mid-Year Exam Teams
Priestap revealed a surprising level of detail regarding the composition of the team involved in Mid-Year Exam. As Priestap described it, the team comprised three differing but intertwined elements: the filter team, the primary team, and the senior leadership team.Below Strzok and Moffa was a day-to-day investigative “filter” team of approximately 15 FBI agents and analysts that was overseen by Rick Mains, a supervisory special agent who reported directly to Strzok and Moffa. Joining the team were two DOJ lawyers from the Eastern District of Virginia and two attorneys from the DOJ’s National security Division (NSD) who, according to Priestap, were “heavily engaged.” According to testimony from Page, John Carlin, who ran the NSD, was receiving briefings on both investigations directly from McCabe.
The primary team was small, consisting only of Strzok, Moffa, Mains, and, to varying degrees, Moyer. Mains reported to Strzok and Moffa, who, in turn, along with Moyer, provided briefings to Priestap.
The senior leadership team was more fluid, consisting of higher-level officials who provided briefings and updates to Comey, McCabe, or both. In addition to Priestap, Strzok, and Moffa, frequent attendees included Moyer (“sometimes, but not always”); Page (“usually included”); deputy general counsel Trisha Anderson (“sometimes, but not always”); Comey’s chief of staff, Jim Rybicki (“most, if not all of these”); and general counsel Baker (“often in those meetings”).
According to Priestap, Mains was never involved in the senior leadership meetings. Priestap described Mains’ role as being “in charge of the investigative team, the working level, all the day-to-day stuff.”
The Insurance Policy
A key focus of lawmakers investigating the FBI’s handling of the counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign has been the “insurance policy” text sent by Strzok on Aug. 15, 2016, following a meeting with Page and McCabe in the deputy director’s office:“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office – that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
Mr. Baker: “There is a reference -- again, these are the texts that have sort of become famous or widely reported -- there is a reference to an insurance policy. And the innuendo was that there was something held in abeyance should Mr. Trump actually win the election. Do you have any thought or any idea what the insurance policy was?”
Mr. Priestap: “Somebody talking about an insurance policy, I would have asked, ‘What the heck do you mean by that?’”Priestap indicated that not only would he have been alarmed by the discussion, but he would have required additional explanation as to what was actually being discussed, and why.
The Electability Factor
In addition to his concerns over the “insurance policy,” Priestap expressed significant reservations regarding the conversation between McCabe, Strzok, and Page relating to the electability of then-candidate Trump. Priestap agreed there was no rationale for this consideration to be present in an FBI investigation—or in a conversation regarding said investigation:Mr. Somers: “Stay on this text for a second. So you’re not aware of the insurance policy aspect of the text, but there’s also another aspect here, and that’s presumably Lisa Page discussing whether or not -- presumably Trump -- gets elected. Are you surprised that they would be discussing which candidate would be getting elected?”
Mr. Somers: “So you are surprised that this was a discussion that took place in the deputy director’s office?”
The Clinton Server Anomalies
At two points during Priestap’s testimony, the possibility of access by a foreign adversary to Clinton’s server was discussed. This issue was first broached during testimony by Horowitz and was again explored during Strzok’s public testimony under questioning from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).“The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found an ‘anomaly on Hillary Clinton’s emails going through their private server, and when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, every single one except four, over 30,000, were going to an address that was not on the distribution list,’” Gohmert said.
“It was going to an unauthorized source that was a foreign entity unrelated to Russia,” he added.
Priestap testified that he had not been briefed on the Clinton server anomaly by Strzok, noting “this would have been a big deal.”
Priestap’s admission that this was all new information to him, prompted an observation from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) that Strzok appeared to be exercising significant investigative control:
Mr. Meadows: “It sounds like Peter Strzok was kind of driving the train here. Would you agree with that?”
Mr. Priestap: “Peter and Jon, yeah.”
As Meadows noted during testimony, this matter still had to be officially “closed out” by the FBI before the official closing of the Clinton investigation. Strzok personally called the IC inspector general within minutes of Comey’s July 5, 2016, press conference on the Clinton investigation, telling him that the FBI would be sending a “referral to close it out.”
Meadows seemed genuinely surprised that Strzok had apparently kept this information successfully hidden from Priestap, noting, “I’m a Member from North Carolina, and you’re saying that I have better intel than you do?”
Priestap’s London Trips
Priestap testified that while he preferred to travel as little as possible, he had made three international trips in 2016, though the final one may have been in early 2017. All three trips were to London.Priestap’s first trip took place in the spring of 2016, and according to Priestap, was some sort of generalized briefing where he was “on the receiving end.” Priestap said this meeting originated after a UK contingent came to the United States in the months immediately following his appointment as head of counterintelligence. Priestap said he was asked to follow up with a return visit to the UK:
“[T]hey asked if I would please visit their country and service because they would like to tell me some more about some of their efforts. And I said, as so as soon as my schedule allows, I will do that. And when my schedule allowed, I went, and they were telling me things.”
Rep. Jordan: “What was the second trip? Later in 2016 you go to your second trip. What is that?”
Rep. Jordan: “Was your second trip then concerning the Trump-Russia investigation, the other counter -- a second counterintelligence investigation launched by the FBI?”
Priestap Refuses to Discuss Crossfire Hurricane
The vast majority of Priestap’s testimony centered around the Clinton email investigation. The specific focus was not due to a lack of Priestap’s involvement in the Trump–Russia investigation, but rather a notable inability on his part to disclose any information relating to Crossfire Hurricane:Ms. Shen: “Can you describe the extent of your involvement in the FBI’s investigation of whether there was any coordination between people associated with the Trump campaign and the Russians?”
Rep. Jordan: “Well, let’s go back to the second visit then. Is the second visit, was it about the Trump-Russia investigation, the one in 2016?”
Special Counsel Investigation
Dana Boente, who replaced Baker as the FBI’s general counsel, noted that in order for Priestap to discuss his London trips further, approval from the special counsel would be required because of an active criminal investigation:Mr. Boente: “We would also need to talk to special counsel about that.”
Both the Clinton email investigation and the Trump–Russia investigation were classified as counterintelligence investigations from their inception, although Priestap was unaware who made the decision to classify the Clinton case as such versus a criminal investigation.
Both cases, however, were also considered to be potential criminal investigations within the FBI as stated by former FBI general counsel Baker during his Oct. 18 testimony:
“The FBI walks in with all of its options on the table. And it can pursue things in a strictly, you know, foreign intelligence channel, interacting with other intelligence agencies and things like that and never have anything to do with, you know, a grand jury subpoena or putting anybody in a courtroom or anything like that, or an indictment.
“But at the same time, if the facts and circumstances warrant going -- using criminal tools, including up to and including prosecution, then the FBI can do that. And so I think it’s just misleading to think of a counterintelligence investigation as not also being, in part, at least potentially a criminal investigation.”
General Counsel Office Instructed Priestap Not to Discuss Crossfire Hurricane
Priestap had been specifically cleared through the FBI’s general counsel office as to what could be discussed during his testimony. Exactly who provided the specific disclosure parameters is not known, although Boente, as the general counsel, appeared to be fully briefed:Mr. Priestap: “I’m sorry if there’s confusion there. What I’m referring to is it’s my understanding that somebody communicated with the staff up here and they told us to focus on the four bullet points.”
Section 792 & the Weiner Search Warrants
During Page’s testimony, there was a significant amount of discussion regarding “gross negligence” and “intent.”Page repeatedly noted that what they were looking for was intent on the part of Clinton to mishandle classified information. Page also addressed the issue of why the term “gross negligence” was removed from Comey’s draft letter that exonerated Clinton, saying, “We neither had sufficient evidence to charge gross negligence, nor had it ever been done, because the Department [DOJ] viewed it as constitutionally vague.”
Page also told lawmakers: “We had multiple conversations with the Justice Department about bringing a gross negligence charge. And that’s, as I said, the advice that we got from the department was that they did not think—that it was constitutionally vague and not sustainable.”
Mr. Breitenbach: “You don’t remember whether there were search warrants obtained in the case, other than the Weiner laptop?”
Mr. Breitenbach: “We see in this chart that DOJ is not willing to charge this, meaning 18 U.S.C. 793(f). My question is going back to those draft affidavits. If DOJ is not willing to charge this statute, why would the FBI in an affidavit use this statute as predication to obtain a search warrant if this statute is never going to be prosecuted?”
“But I don’t know why they, again, put it together. I don’t know why they used this language, ‘DOJ not willing to charge this.’
“My attitude is that if there is a Federal criminal statute still on the books, then, you know -- and we think there may or might be a violation of that, we still have to work to uncover whether, in fact, there was.
“Let’s assume things are going swimmingly and, in fact, all 17 of those witnesses admit, ‘We did it, it was on purpose, we totally wanted to mishandle classified information,’ gross negligence would still have been off the table because of the department’s assessment that it was vague. We would have other crimes to now charge, but gross negligence would not have been among them,” Page said in her testimony.
Comey’s Notification of Congress
During his March 2017 testimony, FBI Director Comey was questioned by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) regarding the requirements for notifying Congress and the executive branch of an FBI counterintelligence investigation:Rep. Stefanik: “Broadly, when the FBI has any open counter-intelligence investigation, what are the typical protocols or procedures for notifying the DNI, the White House, and senior Congressional leadership?”
Mr. Comey: “It’s a good question. Congressional leadership, some time recently. They were briefed on the nature of the investigation in some detail as I said. Obviously the Department of Justice has been aware of it all along. The DNI, I don’t know what the DNI’s knowledge of it was because we didn’t have a DNI until Mr. Coats took office and I briefed him his first morning in office.”Stefanik then asked Comey why, if the FBI opened their investigation on July 31, 2016, did Comey wait until March 2017 to notify Congress. Comey stated that “it was a matter of such sensitivity that we wouldn’t include it in the quarterly briefings.”
Rep. Stefanik: “So when you state our decision is that your decision? Is that usually your decision what gets briefed in those quarterly updates?”
Priestap said that, as the head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, it was his responsibility to brief the chair and ranking members of House and Senate Intel Committees on “significant intelligence failures or significant intelligence successes.” Priestap also noted that the FBI does not brief Congress “every time we open a counterintelligence investigation.”
Rep. Jordan: “I guess what I’m asking, Mr. Priestap, is who made the decision not to brief Congress in this particular instance?”
Boente Attended Priestap Interview
Boente was present at Priestap’s congressional interview. Of the transcripts reviewed, this is the only interview Boente was present at. He was appointed as FBI general counsel on Jan. 23, 2018, replacing Baker, who was demoted and reassigned.Boente has served in a series of critical shifting roles within the Trump administration. Boente, who remained the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia until early 2018, concurrently became the acting attorney general following the firing of then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Boente, who was specifically appointed by Trump, was not directly in the line of succession that had been previously laid out under an executive order from the Obama administration.
On March 31, 2017, the Trump administration asked for the resignations all 46 holdover U.S. attorneys from the Obama administration. Trump refused to accept the resignations of just two of them—Boente and Rosenstein.
Boente appeared to be supportive of Priestap throughout the interview. Unlike so many other legacy officials within the FBI, who abruptly resigned in late 2017 and early 2018, Priestap continued in his position as head of counterintelligence throughout most of 2018.
