Article snippet: Former FBI director MORE testified to House lawmakers this week that the counterintelligence investigation into possible conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign began by examining four Americans. While Comey steadfastly denied the probe was focused on a political campaign and declined to identify who the four individuals are, he did note MORE was not among them. “I was briefed sometime at the end of July that the FBI had opened counterintelligence investigations of four individuals to see if there was a connection between those -- any of those four and the Russian effort,” Comey said Friday during a closed-door questioning, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday. “And those four Americans did not include the candidate.” An FBI counsel at the interview said that Comey could not reveal the individuals’ identities “if they are individuals that are currently being looked at or investigated as part of the Russian investigation.” The revelation was one of several included in the 235-page long testimony released Saturday afternoon, part of Comey’s deal to testify before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees behind closed doors for six hours Friday. And while Comey could not comment on the special counsel’s ongoing investigation during the testimony, he forcefully defended MORE, the FBI and its agents that have come under GOP-scrutiny. In particular, Comey went to bat for former counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, who was fired e... Link to the full article to read more