In the days after President Trump
fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.
The inquiry carried explosive implications. Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.
Let's set the whole board here, not just one corner. MI6 tells Clapper that Trump has some shady Ruskie connections. non-FBI intel sets up foreign agents to try to trap Trump officials, and all fail miserably except for Manifort, but Manifort has Hillbag ties so they have to be careful. The smoke they created themselves was enough for Clapper to take off and run, sets up Crossfire Hurricane, a joint counter-intel op, and where the FBI comes into play. Brennan gets the dossier info to Dirty Harry Reid, and the White House. Steele in the meantime, is giving the dossier to McCain, the press, the FBI, and anyone else who will listen. The press ignores it for the most part for 6 months.
Trump is about to take office, and the Obama admin panics. Obama himself passes an EO where all intel can share everything, and pulls down walls that had been place forever because they need to be separate. Yates is pulling intel and unmasking people into the wee hours of every night. Clapper wants to get the info public, so puts Comey up to finally briefing Trump on some of the dossier, in order to get CNN to publish it, and then goes to work for the weeks later.
Trump is finally getting wind of this stuff from Comey, and his behavior is as odd as Trump's is. Trump knows the Democrats have no love lost for Comey at this point, so getting rid of him is a no brainer.
FINALLY, McCabe, now fired with cause as well, opens the investigation in question. A month later, Strzok texts his side piece that there's no there there.
