In 2015, after Donald Trump announced his intention to run for the presidency, a whistleblower alleged that then-FBI Director James Comey authorized an undercover, off-the-books investigation of the Donald Trump for President campaign using two female "honeypots" to try to lure a high-ranking member of the campaign into a sexual relationship.
The Washington Times broke the story in October following a "protected disclosure" by a whistleblower to the House Judiciary Committee. A "protected disclosure" occurs when a federal employee makes a disclosure "based on a reasonable belief that wrongdoing has occurred and if the disclosure is made to a person or entity that is authorized to receive it."
The whistleblower said he had first-hand knowledge of the honeypot operation, which included two female FBI agents who infiltrated the Trump campaign at high levels and were directed to gather as much information as possible using sex or the promise of sex as a reward.
The whistleblower also alleged that Comey ran the operation personally and that it was a criminal investigation targeting Donald Trump and his staff.
The off-the-books investigation was different than the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, which was trying to find proof of Russian collusion.
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 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.”
I doubt that Comey would have opened an illegal investigation like this without someone very senior in the Obama administration authorizing it.
Unfortunately, there is almost certainly very little of a paper trail to prove the allegation one way or another. The Times reports that the investigation was eventually closed when a "major newspaper" obtained a photo of one of the female FBI agents. The bureau prevented the publishing of the photo by claiming it was of an undercover operative who would be killed if the paper went public. The whistleblower said the photo was, indeed, of the female "honeypot" agent.
One of the female agents agreed to be transferred to the CIA where it would be difficult to question her. The other female agent was promoted and is now a high-ranking FBI executive in a major field office.
Other FBI agents attached to the "honeypot" operation were told to keep their mouths shut. "The FBI employee making this disclosure took this admonishment as a direct threat to the employees who received it," reports the Times.
Although somewhat skeptical of the story, Hugh Hewitt points out the frightening implications.
I, too, have doubts. It's certainly possible that Comey went to such lengths to discredit a political candidate, specifically Donald Trump. But the risks would have been huge for Comey and anyone involved in this blatantly illegal cockamamie scheme.
Producing the female agents would go a long way to proving at least some of the allegations. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see what Kash Patel finds in his investigation.