The Justice Department intends to offer an additional briefing to a select group of senior lawmakers who have pressed for details about the FBI’s use of an informant to make contact with associates of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
A senior Justice Department official said lawmakers in the so-called Gang of Eight — a group that includes Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — will have an opportunity to review documents that they didn’t review during a high-level classified briefing last month.
“The Department and FBI are prepared to brief members on certain questions specifically raised by the Speaker and other members,” the DOJ official said. “The Department will also provide the documents that were available for review but not inspected by the members at the previous briefing along with some additional material.”
The briefing is expected to occur on Monday or Tuesday next week.
The new briefing comes as some GOP lawmakers have suggested the Justice Department still has answers to provide about the FBI’s decision to deploy an informant to glean information from Trump campaign officials. Trump has railed against the FBI and accused it of planting a spy within his ranks for political purpose, though he’s presented no evidence to support the claim, which he’s labeled “spygate.”
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