FBI

Department of Justice and FBI officials are planning another secret briefing for congressional leaders about investigators' use of confidential sources in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

Officials are expected to meet early next week with the leaders of the full House and Senate and the chambers' intelligence committees — the "Gang of Eight" — a senior Justice Department official said.

The official asked not to be identified discussing the preparations for the secret briefing.

Updated at 3:08 p.m. ET

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has not "admitted that there was Spying" on Donald Trump's campaign in 2016.

The former spy baron has been making public appearances all week as part of the tour for his new book, and interviewers have been asking him about the latest news in the Russia imbroglio. President Trump mischaracterized what Clapper said as part of his ongoing political counterattack against federal law enforcement and the intelligence community.

The FBI significantly over-counted the number of encrypted phones it says are connected to ongoing criminal investigations but remain inaccessible to investigators without back door access.

Updated at 2:12 p.m. ET

President Trump intensified his attack on federal law enforcement as he sought to strengthen his case that the FBI's investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia actually amounted to unlawful political snooping.

"I hope it's not so, but if it is, there's never been anything like it in the history of our country," the president said Wednesday.

Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided on how they see special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to President Trump's campaign, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

The FBI raids on Monday targeting President Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, sent a jolt through Washington and darkened the legal cloud hanging over the administration.

Trump lashed out at the Justice Department and special counsel Robert Mueller, telling reporters that "it's a disgraceful situation" and "an attack on our country."

On Tuesday, Trump zeroed in on a particular angle of the raid: the seizure of privileged communications between Cohen and his legal clients, the most prominent of whom, of course, is the president.

Updated at 10:09 p.m. ET

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he is not appointing — for now — a second special counsel to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by the FBI and Justice Department, telling Republican lawmakers that he has already asked a veteran prosecutor to look into the matter.

Republicans on Capitol Hill, including the chairmen of the Senate and House judiciary committees, have ramped up their push in recent weeks for a second special counsel to investigate what they say was misconduct by the FBI and Justice Department in 2016 and 2017.

The Justice Department's internal watchdog says it will launch a review in response to allegations by Republican lawmakers that the department and the FBI abused their surveillance authorities to target a former Trump campaign adviser in the early days of the DOJ's Russia investigation.

Updated at 10:25 p.m. ET

Before Washington, D.C., had fully processed the late-night firing of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who was let go by Attorney General Jeff Sessions less than 48 hours before his planned retirement after more than two decades of service to the bureau, the saga took several new, head-spinning turns Saturday.