McClatchy reported last night that the FBI and five other agencies have been following a money trail that leads from the Russia government to the Trump campaign for nearly a year.
The group of agencies, which includes the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, reportedly believe the Russians may have used a routine payment system to funnel money to pro-Trump forces.
Investigators are examining how money may have moved from the Kremlin to covertly help Trump win, the two sources said. One of the allegations involves whether a system for routinely paying thousands of Russian-American pensioners may have been used to pay some email hackers in the United States or to supply money to intermediaries who would then pay the hackers, the two sources said.
This investigation reportedly began in April of 2016 which raises several questions.
It obviously makes FBI director James Comey look even worse than he already did. Comey blew up the front pages of every news outlet in the country just a week before the election to announce that they found some emails on Anthony Weiner's sexting laptop, but several separate investigations into Trump's ties to Russia were kept secret.
Comey's behavior cannot be obscured behind the unverified claims contained in the Golden Showers dossier because the FBI's investigation of the money trail began months before the agency was made aware that Trump likes to get pissed on.
This also raises questions about a New York Times report that was published just days before the election that said the FBI has seen "no clear link" between Russia and Trump. That was clearly bullshit. The FBI was actively investigating several cases involving ties between the Russians and the Trump campaign when the Times published that story.
Whoever fed that information to the New York Times was clearly lying. The Times will never burn their source, but they should. Sources that lie deserve to be burned.