President Barack Obama met in January 2017 with then-FBI Director James Comey and other top national security officials to talk about sharing information related to Russia with the incoming Trump administration — asserting the probe should be handled "by the book," according to an email made public Monday, CNN reported.
The previously undisclosed meeting was held Jan. 5, 2017 — and was recounted in an email written by then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice on President Donald Trump's inauguration day.
CNN, quoting an unnamed source, said the meeting in the waning days of the Obama administration focused on whether the national security team needed to be concerned about sharing information with the incoming administration — since the FBI's Russia probe picked up intelligence suggesting some members of the Trump team could be compromised.
"President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the intelligence and law enforcement communities 'by the book,'" Rice wrote in an email to herself. "The president stressed that he is not asking about, initiating, or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book."
She also wrote Obama wanted to know whether there was any reason they should not be sharing information related to Russia.
"From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia," Rice wrote.
"The president asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would."
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