New York Times reporter Adam Goldman declined to reveal Thursday if the FBI employed the woman who, according to his report, was sent by the Bureau to inform on the Trump campaign.
Goldman’s report revealed the FBI sent a woman posing as an assistant to question George Papadopoulos in an early spy operation on the Trump campaign. Azra Turk worked with FBI informant Stefan Halper in the operation to try to find out if the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to steal the election. But Goldman wouldn’t say if she was an FBI agent.
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“I think part of the rationale was also to have an American investigator there who could provide some oversight and make sure this operation stayed on the rails,” Goldman told Anderson Cooper.
“Was she an FBI agent?” he asked. The question is pertinent because of the debate raging this week over whether the FBI’s actions against the Trump campaign constituted “spying.” In addition to sending Turk and Halper to inform on Papadopoulos, the FBI conducted extended surveillance of Trump campaign associates. (RELATED: Attorney General Bill Barr Says He Won’t Stop Using The Word ‘Spying’)
“I’m just going to leave it right now as a government investigator,” Goldman told Anderson Cooper. “I use that wording for a reason, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Cooper did leave it at that, but pressed Goldman to answer if the spy op was successful. Goldman acknowledged that the operation was a dud in terms of finding any evidence the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia, but said it proved how “alarmed” the FBI was at the prospect.
“This was pretty extraordinary, for the FBI to move this fast on something overseas, to run this type of operation,” he said.