Secret Intel On 2016 Russian Interference Could Cast ‘Very Negative Light’ On Donald Trump, Ex-FBI Chief Says

Classified intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the ties to Donald Trump’s campaign could cast the president in a “very negative light,” the former head of the FBI has claimed.

Andrew McCabe, who served as acting FBI director during the launch of the probe, said that secret intel from the investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s campaign could uncover some very damaging revelations. McCabe had appeared earlier in the week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating how the FBI first launched the probe into Russian interference and the potential ties to Trump. As The Independent reported, he testified that the agency had a “duty” to follow through with the investigation given what they had found.

Appearing on CNN on Friday, he was asked by host Chris Cuomo whether there was any information found that would have cleared Trump. The former bureau chief said there were some good reasons that the materials should never come out, including the risk of exposing damaging secrets about the president.

“There is some very, very serious, very specific, undeniable intelligence that has not come out, that if it were released, would risk compromising our access to that sort of information in the future,” he said, via The Independent.

“I think it would also risk casting the president in a very negative light — so, would he have a motivation to release those things? It’s almost incomprehensible to me that he would want that information out, I don’t see how he spins it into his advantage, because quite frankly, I don’t believe it’s flattering.”

Trump has long maintained his innocence, saying that he did not have improper contact with Russia during the campaign and calling the probe a politically motivated witch hunt. He has also cast doubt on the conclusion of the American intelligence community that the country meddled in the election at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has also been criticized for what many see as a too-close relationship with Putin, with critics saying he failed to properly push back for the election meddling and for a reported program where Russia offered bounties to militants who killed American troops in Afghanistan. As The Inquisitr reported, a foreign affairs expert also said the two world leaders had an “unusual amount of communication” after that alleged program was revealed to Trump, speaking by phone five times over the course of three weeks near the time that Trump was reportedly informed.

There could be more that the American public never sees, McCabe added. When asked if the probe uncovered more “bad stuff” about Trump than what was publicly revealed, he appeared to hint that some of the material was not fit to be released.

“There is always more intelligence, there is a lot more in the intelligence community assessment than what is ever released for public consumption,” he said.