<div class="css-17ih8de interactive-body"><style> .g-doc-page_paper:not(.g-doc-page_html) { padding-top: 129.41176470588235%; } </style> <div class="g-graphic"> <div class="g-doc-header"> <p class="sr-only">A PDF version of this document with embedded text is available at the link below:</p> <a class="g-download-link" href="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/5ea2629de4dea8f8/7eb548f2-full.pdf" target="_blank"> <h2>Download the original document (pdf)</h2> </a> </div> <div class="g-doc-wrapper g-ocr-ready"> <div class="g-item g-document"> <div class="g-doc-page_wrapper"> <div class="g-doc-page_container"> <div class="g-doc-page g-doc-page_image" data-hasannotations="false" id="page-1"> <div class="g-doc-page_inner clearfix"> <div class="g-doc-page_paper doc-shell"> <img alt="Page 1 of 1" aria-describedby="page-1-text" class="g-doc-image lazyload" data-src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/26081dcbb8397efd/1/output-1.png" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png" width="1700"/> <noscript> <img alt="Page 1 of 1" aria-describedby="page-1-text" class="g-doc-image" height="2200" src="https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/26081dcbb8397efd/1/output-1.png" width="1700"/> </noscript> <p class="g-doc-text" id="page-1-text">HARRY REID NEVADA United States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20510-7012 August 27, 2016 DEMOCRATIC LEADER The Honorable James Comey Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Dear Director Comey: I have recently become concerned that the threat of the Russian government tampering in our presidential election is more extensive than widely known and may include the intent to falsify official election results. The evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump's presidential campaign continues to mount and has led Michael Morrell, the former Acting Central Intelligence Director, to call Trump an “unwitting agent" of Russia and the Kremlin. The prospect of a hostile government actively seeking to undermine our free and fair elections represents one of the gravest threats to our democracy since the Cold War and it is critical for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to use every resource available to investigate this matter thoroughly and in a timely fashion. The American people deserve to have a full understanding of the facts from a completed investigation before they vote this November. As you know, Russia's intent to influence the outcome of our presidential election has been well-documented by numerous news organizations. For example, it has been reported that your agency is currently investigating the cyber theft of thousands of documents from several Democratic organizations, including, but not limited to, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Already, a consensus of national security experts publicly concluded that actors of the Russian government carried out these cyber attacks. It is of vital public interest to understand the chain of custody of these illegally obtained documents from the time they were stolen to the time of public dissemination, including any evidence of complicit intermediaries between the Russian government, those who leaked the material and any United States citizen. For example, it has come to my attention that last week, video evidence came to light of an individual with long ties to Donald Trump and his top campaign aides claiming to be in communication with WikiLeaks, the organization that posted online the 20,000 DNC documents illegally obtained by Russia. The prospect of individuals tied to Trump, Wikileaks and the Russian government coordinating to influence our election raises concerns of the utmost gravity and merits full examination.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="g-img-overlay_container" id="g-img-overlay"> <div class="g-img-overlay"> <div class="g-img-overlay_inner"> <img alt="Image of the selected page" class="g-img-image" src="https://static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png"/> <div id="g-img-close"> <span class="g-img-icon-text">Close</span> <span class="g-img-icon g-close">×</span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>