FBI director dismisses Putin desire to question Americans: ‘It’s certainly not high our list’

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday dismissed the suggestion that Russia should be allowed to question U.S. citizens, an offer Russian President Vladimir Putin presented to President Trump earlier in the week. 

At a joint press conference in Finland, Putin said he’d be willing to allow U.S. law enforcement to travel to Russia and observe the questioning of suspects implicated in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. In exchange, Putin said he’d want access to U.S. citizens for questioning. 

Wray quickly laughed off the idea during an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum when NBC’s Lester Holt asked if the Department of Justice would ever consider allowing suspects to be interviewed by Russia and observed as a general practice.

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“I never want to say never about anything, but it’s certainly not high on our list of investigative techniques,” Wray said, prompting laughter and cheers in the room. 

Wray was even less keen on Putin’s desire to interview Americans.

“That’s probably even lower on our list of investigative techniques,” he said with a laugh.

President Trump has not been as quick to shrug off Putin’s offer. During Monday’s press conference, Trump called it an “incredible offer” to allow U.S. investigators to observe questioning of Russians who have been charged in the Mueller probe.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that Trump will discuss the offer with other U.S. officials.

“There was some conversation about it, but there wasn’t a commitment made on behalf of the United States,” Sanders said at Wednesday’s press briefing. “The president will work with his team and we’ll let you know if there’s an announcement on that front.”

The comments caused alarm among a number of former U.S. officials. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who could be questioned by Russians if Trump agreed to the deal, called on the White House to denounce the idea “in categorical terms.”

“Not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimacy US indictment of Russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by Putin,” McFaul tweeted.

I hope the White House corrects the record and denounces in categorical terms this ridiculous request from Putin. Not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimacy US indictment of Russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by Putin https://t.co/K1ZvrNwTu3

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 18, 2018