In summer 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump was given a briefing by the FBI that warned that Russia and other nations would attempt to infiltrate his campaign.
According to NBC News, the meeting came in either late July or early August, which was after the president’s son met with a Russian lawyer who had promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
The briefing came after Trump was authorized to receive classified briefings in his role as his party’s nominee, according to NBC News, making him as a potential target for foreign intelligence services. Clinton, in her role as the Democratic nominee, received a similar report, which was designed to educate them to the threats they were now exposed to.
Trump was briefed on the matter by high-ranking counterintelligence officers in the bureau.
“That the Republican and Democrat nominee for president received a standardized briefing on counterintelligence is hardly a news story,” Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, told NBC.
At the time of the briefing occurred, the FBI was already investigating the Trump campaign for contacts with Russians that were deemed suspicious.
Read NBC’s report here.
