Page:Comey-Interview-12-7-18-Redacted.pdf/149

149 nationals?

Mr. I think that's a question that I can't answer because it dives into a nonpublic level of detail about the Russia investigation.

Mr. Okay. So in mid June 2016, you first learned about the Russian Government's interference or attempt to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election. When did the FBI first learn of credible evidence that individuals associated with the Trump campaign may be coordinating with the Russian Government?

Mr. The first I'm aware of that was the end of July of 2016, which is what led us to open counterintelligence cases on four different Americans.

Mr. Okay. And what was your reaction to this?

Mr. I don't remember a particular reaction, other than that it was going to be very important that we do this in a close hold way so that we don't alert the people we're going to investigate that we're looking at this and so that the investigation is able to be done in a quality way in the middle of a political season. I remember being concerned about that. And then just open minded about whether there's anything to it or not. I couldn't tell at the beginning whether there was.

Mr. Have you ever been affiliated with any kind of investigation similar to this where a foreign government