FBI looking into James Comey’s off-the-books ‘honeypot’ operation targeting 2016 Trump campaign

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FBI looking into James Comey’s off-the-books ‘honeypot’ operation targeting 2016 Trump campaign (archive.today)

New leadership at the FBI is starting an investigation into the origins of the agency’s plan a decade ago to infiltrate the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump using two female undercover “honeypot” agents.

The off-the-books investigation, launched in 2015 by former FBI Director James Comey, was revealed by an agency whistleblower in a protected disclosure to the House Judiciary Committee last year and first reported exclusively by The Washington Times in October.

In the intelligence community, a honeypot commonly refers to an undercover operative, usually a woman, who feigns sexual or romantic interest to obtain information from a target.

According to the whistleblower, two female FBI undercover employees infiltrated Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign at high levels and were directed to act as “honeypots” while traveling with Mr. Trump and his campaign staff.

The Times has learned that the bureau, now led by Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, is looking for those once-undercover employees who were previously under Mr. Comey’s direction.

The Times reached out to the FBI for comment.

According to the whistleblower disclosure, which The Times reviewed, the investigation differed from Crossfire Hurricane, a later FBI counterintelligence operation that looked into never-proved allegations that the campaign was colluding with Russia.

The whistleblower said the early off-the-books probe was a criminal investigation targeting Mr. Trump and his staff.

Mr. Trump launched his presidential campaign on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City, about a year before the FBI opened Crossfire Hurricane.

The whistleblower agent “personally knew” that Mr. Comey ordered an FBI investigation into Mr. Trump and that Mr. Comey “personally directed it,” according to the disclosure.

The investigation did not appear to target a specific crime but was more of what agents would describe as a fishing expedition to find anything incriminating that could be used against Mr. Trump. The whistleblower said the undercover operation was obscured from Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, who investigated misconduct in the bureau’s probe of the Trump campaign.

“The case had no predicated foundation, so Comey personally directed the investigation without creating an official case file in Sentinel or any other FBI system,” according to the whistleblower’s disclosure. “The FBI has multiple methods of protecting highly sensitive investigations, so Comey did not have a legitimate reason not to officially create an official investigation file or have a file number. . .

Source(washingtontimes.com)

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>New leadership at the FBI is starting an investigation into the origins of the agency’s plan a decade ago to infiltrate the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump using two female undercover “honeypot” agents. >The off-the-books investigation, launched in 2015 by former FBI Director James Comey, was revealed by an agency whistleblower in a protected disclosure to the House Judiciary Committee last year and first reported exclusively by The Washington Times in October. >In the intelligence community, a honeypot commonly refers to an undercover operative, usually a woman, who feigns sexual or romantic interest to obtain information from a target. >According to the whistleblower, two female FBI undercover employees infiltrated Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign at high levels and were directed to act as “honeypots” while traveling with Mr. Trump and his campaign staff. >The Times has learned that the bureau, now led by Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, is looking for those once-undercover employees who were previously under Mr. Comey’s direction. >The Times reached out to the FBI for comment. >According to the whistleblower disclosure, which The Times reviewed, the investigation differed from Crossfire Hurricane, a later FBI counterintelligence operation that looked into never-proved allegations that the campaign was colluding with Russia. >The whistleblower said the early off-the-books probe was a criminal investigation targeting Mr. Trump and his staff. >Mr. Trump launched his presidential campaign on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City, about a year before the FBI opened Crossfire Hurricane. >The whistleblower agent “personally knew” that Mr. Comey ordered an FBI investigation into Mr. Trump and that Mr. Comey “personally directed it,” according to the disclosure. >The investigation did not appear to target a specific crime but was more of what agents would describe as a fishing expedition to find anything incriminating that could be used against Mr. Trump. The whistleblower said the undercover operation was obscured from Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, who investigated misconduct in the bureau’s probe of the Trump campaign. >“The case had no predicated foundation, so Comey personally directed the investigation without creating an official case file in Sentinel or any other FBI system,” according to the whistleblower’s disclosure. “The FBI has multiple methods of protecting highly sensitive investigations, so Comey did not have a legitimate reason not to officially create an official investigation file or have a file number. . . [Source](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/25/fbi-looking-james-comeys-books-honeypot-operation-targeting-2016/)