Republican leader: ‘For all practical purposes’ there’s no difference between an FBI informant and a spy

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on Saturday that he doesn’t see a difference between an FBI informant and a spy in relation to recent revelations that the FBI used an informant to investigate the Trump presidential campaign.

In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Cornyn said that there is no difference between a “confidential informant” and a spy.

“The FBI was involved in a counterintelligence investigation, I presume, and used somebody who had contacted various subjects of their investigation to communicate back to the FBI what they found out,” Cornyn, who is the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said. “I guess for all practical purposes, for most people, it wouldn’t be any different.”

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House Republicans, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.), have been pushing for weeks to get access to information about the FBI informant.

Democrats have said the FBI did nothing wrong by using an informant, who reportedly met with at least three Trump advisers during the campaign in 2016.

But President Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that Democrats planted a spy in his presidential campaign.

Cornyn blamed former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump last year, for the current situation.

“I think Director Comey helped create a culture at the FBI that they were accountable to no one. And unfortunately, that created, I believe, this situation we find ourselves with,” Cornyn told Hewitt.

He defended the current FBI director but said the bureau is still viewed in a bad light.

“Director [Christopher] Wray, I have to tell you, I think is doing an outstanding job. But it’s going to be a long time before the reputation of the FBI regains its reputation as a law enforcement organization that has integrity and is above politics.”