--- title: Why Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation description: Investigators amass evidence under court supervision, regardless of who is in charge canonical: https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/ author: Massimo Calabresi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-23T21:00:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:03:57.008Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation og:description: Investigators amass evidence under court supervision, regardless of who is in charge og:url: https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd01732812e9e252c/6988ce8ccf40a86206c47cec/john-brennan1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: House Intelligence Cmte Holds Hearing On Russian Interference In U.S. Election og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation twitter:description: Investigators amass evidence under court supervision, regardless of who is in charge twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd01732812e9e252c/6988ce8ccf40a86206c47cec/john-brennan1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why President Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=46766b8e-77e8-40c3-8d17-873c95e59ab5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Former CIA Director 'Concerned' About Contacts Between Trump Campaign and Russia [Watch (HLS stream): Former CIA Director 'Concerned' About Contacts Between Trump Campaign and Russia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R6YzPr5R.m3u8) (1:06)  _Published 2017-05-23. Former CIA Director John Brennan says he had "unresolved questions" about whether members of the Trump campaign who had contact with Russians were working "on their behalf, either wittingly or unwittingly_  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. May 23, 2017 9:00 PM UTC  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. May 23, 2017 9:00 PM UTC In May 2016, a Russian military intelligence officer talked too much. Boasting to a colleague, he said that his organization, known as the GRU, was getting ready to cause chaos in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The officer was “bragging about the systematic attempt… to cause chaos into our electoral cycle,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told TIME for the magazine’s [current cover story](http://time.com/4783932/inside-russia-social-media-war-america/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod) on the Russian operation. What the officer didn’t know was that U.S. spies were listening. Looking back as part of their effort to uncover the details of the 2016 Russia operation, U.S. investigators now realize the GRU officer’s boast was the first indication they had from their sources that Russia wasn’t just hacking U.S. email accounts to collect intelligence, but was actually planning to interfere in the vote, several senior intelligence officials told TIME. A year later, that single scrap of intelligence has grown into a multi-pronged investigation to uncover the full extent of Russia’s election-meddling, an attack on the core exercise of democracy in America. The probes have uncovered the possibility that members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign cooperated with Moscow’s agents, according to the ousted head of the FBI, James Comey, and other senior Justice Department and intelligence officials. Intelligence collected last year, former CIA Chief John Brennan testified on May 23, “raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals.” The acting FBI director, Andrew G. McCabe, confirmed in testimony earlier this month that the bureau was pursuing a “highly significant” investigation into possible collusion. The FBI investigators don’t know—or haven’t said—whether the Trump campaign helped the Russians. Determining whether the President’s campaign colluded is up to independent, professional investigators, overseen by prosecutors and judges, who are following the facts to uncover the truth. Which is why Trump’s multiple attempts to blunt the work of the investigators is so remarkable. At a White House meeting on Feb. 14, according to the New York _Times_, Trump [asked](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTv9CLsYbUAhUl74MKHd%5FrCMYQFghCMAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F05%2F16%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fjames-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html&usg=AFQjCNHJA0wnQNpfhJPEPQL2hAxg0cgOfA&sig2=jw-REuXnFFHBjQGrUQBD7g) Comey to ease off part of the Russia probe. Comey refused. When Comey testified March 20 that the FBI was looking into potential cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia, the President and White House aides [asked](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTv9CLsYbUAhUl74MKHd%5FrCMYQFgg2MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2017%2F05%2F22%2F529586885%2Freport-trump-asked-intel-heads-to-push-back-on-fbi-russia-probe&usg=AFQjCNG-dw0jtyVY1VWAEqr1kw6q9SdX%5Fg&sig2=kK89EVRpAHg7Lr%5FXpDwPQw) the heads of the NSA and DNI to pressure Comey to back off, according to the Washington _Post_. When none of that worked, Trump [fired](http://fired) Comey on May 9. Trump said May 18 that the “entire” FBI investigation is a “witch hunt.” He [reportedly told the Russian foreign minister](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html) and others in a White House meeting May 10 that Comey, who has held multiple senior jobs in the Justice Department over more than 30 years, was “a nut job.” But Trump is increasingly alone in his assessment that the investigation is in any way improper. “These investigations are in place to get us to the right conclusion,” Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats testified on May 23. And they are making progress. Initially, in May 2016, the report on the GRU officer didn’t jump out. “We could not put a value on it,” says the senior U.S. intelligence official, “because we didn’t really understand the context until much later.” But over the following two months, new reports came in from other channels showing it wasn’t just the GRU; other elements of the Russian government were intending to interfere in the election, too. By the end of July, there was sufficient evidence to indicate a serious Russian operation was underway. It was at that point that the FBI, which investigates whether or not crimes or foreign espionage have taken place in the United States, opened its probe of the Russian operation. The bureau brings broad powers to such investigations. They can subpoena documents, require testimony by suspects or witnesses under oath, and eavesdrop on suspects to collect evidence. All of that work must comply with the stringent rules of the [Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide](https://vault.fbi.gov/FBI%20Domestic%20Investigations%20and%20Operations%20Guide%20%28DIOG%29). The FBI is reportedly looking at the activities of several individuals associated with the Trump campaign, including former campaign chair Paul Manafort and two advisers, Roger Stone and Carter Page. Each has denied doing anything wrong. Investigators are also looking into contacts between the Russians and Trump’s ousted National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The FBI now views a current senior White House official as a significant person of interest in the case, [according](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russia-probe-reaches-current-white-house-official-people-familiar-with-the-case-say/2017/05/19/7685adba-3c99-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.7cbfec623119) to the Washington _Post_. The DIOG imposes strict oversight constraints on the bureau’s agents, especially when investigating politically sensitive matters. To issue subpoenas they need the permission of a prosecutor or grand jury. To pursue particularly sensitive targets, like political figures, they must get approval from top Justice Department officials. If they want to eavesdrop on suspects, they generally must convince a judge they have probable cause to believe a crime was committed. Public testimony since the election indicates that FBI investigators, following the evidence and working under the supervision and scrutiny of U.S. prosecutors and independent judges, crossed that threshold months ago. Regardless of who is in charge at the top of the FBI or the Justice Department, the probe is going to continue until investigators determine the full extent of the Russian operation, and whether any Americans helped them. ## Transcript I know what the Russians try to do, they try to sub born individuals and they try to get individuals including US persons to act on their behalf either willingly or unwillingly. And I was worried by a number of the contacts that te Russians have with US persons, And so therefore by the time I left office on January 20th I had unreserved questions in my mind as to whether or not the Russians had been successful in getting US persons involved in the campaign or not to work on their behalf. Again, either in a witting or unwitting fashion. And so, therefore, I felt as though the FBI investigation was certainly well- founded and needed to look into those issues. I don't know Whether or not such collusion, and that's your term, such collusion existed. I don't know. But I know that there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not U. S. persons were actively conspiring, colluding with Russian officials. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/"},"headline":"Why President Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation","datePublished":"2017-05-23T21:00:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:03:57.008Z","description":"Investigators amass evidence under court supervision, regardless of who is in charge","url":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/","keywords":["russia","FBI","CIA","espionage","trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd01732812e9e252c/6988ce8ccf40a86206c47cec/john-brennan1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Massimo Calabresi","jobTitle":"Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief.","url":"https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd01732812e9e252c/6988ce8ccf40a86206c47cec/john-brennan1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House Intelligence Cmte Holds Hearing On Russian Interference In U.S. Election","caption":"House Intelligence Cmte Holds Hearing On Russian Interference In U.S. Election","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/","name":"Why President Trump Can't Stop the Russia Investigation"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Former CIA Director 'Concerned' About Contacts Between Trump Campaign and Russia","description":"Former CIA Director John Brennan says he had \"unresolved questions\" about whether members of the Trump campaign who had contact with Russians were working \"on their behalf, either wittingly or unwittingly","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/R6YzPr5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-23T15:56:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R6YzPr5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/","duration":"PT1M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4790880/donald-trump-russia-investigation-michael-flynn-james-comey/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```