Maps on the table: why did Trump demand to declassify the documents on the investigation of "Russian interference" in the election

Donald Trump instructed the Office of the Director of the National Intelligence Agency and the Ministry of Justice, including the FBI, to declassify and publish documents related to the investigation of special prosecutor Robert Mueller about Russia's "interference" in the 2016 presidential election and the links between Trump's election campaign and the Kremlin. This was reported by the White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

"... immediately declassify the following materials: (1) pages 10-12 and 17-34 of the application under the FISA law of June 2017 concerning Carter Page; (2) all FBI reports on an interview with Bruce Orom concerning the investigation of the Russian case; and (3) all FBI reports on interviews related to the FISA application for Carter Page, "Sanders said in a statement posted on the White House official website.

Carter Page was Trump's foreign policy adviser during the election campaign. According to the FBI, in 2016 he "was the target of targeted recruitment by the Russian authorities." Bruce Or was then the second deputy head of the US Department of Justice and was in contact with the FBI and Fusion GPS, which compiled a dossier on Donald Trump's alleged connections with Russia. The document was compiled by the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, the text contained a lot of unconfirmed accusations against Trump. The document was published in January 2017 on the website Buzzfeed.

In addition, the White House also ordered the publication of correspondence (text messages) of former FBI chief James Komi, his deputy Andrew McCabe, as well as former agents of Peter Strzhok and Lisa Page.

The Ministry of Justice in response to the White House's statement at the same time said that the documents will be published not immediately after the receipt of the order from Trump.

"When the president gives such an order, he sets in motion the procedure for declassification, which is carried out by different agencies and departments within the intelligence community and to which the White House adviser is engaged. This is done to ensure the security of America's national interests. The Ministry of Justice and the FBI are already working together with the director of national reconnaissance to fulfill this order, "the Washington Times quoted the representative of the agency.

With an eye for a second term

Trump would like to stop all this, because for a long time while this commission is working, no facts have appeared, says the director of the US Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the US State University, political scientist Yuri Rogulyov

"Trump's initiative is related to the fact that some information appeared in the American press before. They concerned the one who works at Mueller. That is, if Muller himself does not cause sharp protests and rejection, with his position and his views, then some of his investigators see a clear anti-Tramp attitude, which prevents to objectively recognize: "was" or "was not." And all this leads to the fact that this commission is looking for something endlessly and in fact dragging out the work, "Rogulov explained in a conversation with RT.

• Ex-employee of MI6 Christopher Steel (left) prepared for the FBI dossier, in which he claimed that Trump was recruited by the Kremlin. Carter Page (right) was Trump's foreign policy adviser during the election campaign. According to the FBI, in 2016 he "was the target of targeted recruitment from the Russian side."
• © Wikimedia

Correspondence of the agent FBI Strzhok and his colleagues and simultaneously mistresses Lisa Page has already appeared in the press and they were already dismissed from this commission, the political scientist reminded. Rogulov noted that former prosecutor Ken Starr, who at the time headed the same commission to investigate the case of Bill Clinton, said that he has questions to those who are conducting this investigation: among the investigators there are many people with an openly anti-presidential position, so they can not be are objective in this investigation.

According to the expert, Trump needs to resolve this issue as soon as possible, as the official date of the start of the new presidential campaign is approaching.

"Trump is referring to the overall situation of the Republicans and his own, because after the autumn election campaign for Congress, he will begin his presidential election campaign. And Müller's commission is still working. Starting a presidential race in such a situation would be reckless, "Rogulyov said.

Empty documents

Republicans argue that the promulgation of these documents will prove that the investigation was started without any reliable evidence base and was politically motivated in order to denigrate the reputation of Donald Trump. Democrats, however, argue that FISA documents are not important, and the requirement to publicize them is called an attempt to shield the president from the investigation of Mueller.

The investigation of Mueller was a dead weight, and it's time to bury him, says Tarl Warwick, a popular political commentator and a libertarian politician from Vermont.

"Mueller just need to finish the work of the commission, then that she has nowhere else to move. Now we have received confirmation of what political scientists and the public began to guess a year ago - the investigation of Mueller was started without the presence of really any evidence that could be a valid reason for such a trial, "Warwick said during his broadcast.

According to him, no one in the FBI checked the scandalous file of Steele for authenticity because of the desire to prevent Trump from fulfilling his duties as president.

"This information, Steele's file, was supplied by the British intelligence service to the CIA. From there, this illegitimate dossier was sent to the FBI without additional checks. Because of party commitment to Democrats such personalities as Strzhok and Lisa Page, no one checked this information for authenticity. This reveals a very deep problem within the intelligence community. From there, it all fell into the court of FISA, where they simply slammed the seal and started an investigation without looking, "Varvik said.

Earlier, the FBI had already published a report on its contacts with the author of the "secret dossier on Trump" - the ex-employee of MI6, Christopher Steele. Then out of 71 pages of the document 70 were practically empty. The FBI released the document after the public organization Judicial Watch filed an appropriate lawsuit against the US Department of Justice, based on the requirement of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Earlier, the department ignored the request of activists to publish information about Stil's contacts with employees of the federal bureau.

This document stated that the former British intelligence officer Steele was a "confidential source" of the federal bureau for 9 months. During 13 meetings with federal agents on 11 of them he received money from the FBI. The Bureau refused to cooperate with Steele in November 2016.

Associate Professor of the Department of Political Theory MGIMO Cyril Koktysh believes that the publication of these documents can be a significant reason for the formal termination of the investigation in the case of Trump's relations with Russia.

"Trump expects to deal a decisive blow to his rivals. And he will certainly try to convert this situation into his personal success in the next presidential election. Muller still has not presented any evidence, and it is unclear what he is ultimately looking for. It is possible that this may well be the reason for the termination of the protracted case against Trump. However, the issue remains open, "the political scientist concluded.