Former Trump campaign aide and Republican political strategist Michael Caputo claims that an FBI informant approached him and another Trump aide in May 2016 to offer negative information on then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
In a news release that Caputo texted 2 On Your Side, he says that in late May 2016, a man named Henry Greenberg contacted him and fellow Trump advisor Roger Stone offering negative information on Hillary Clinton. According to the Washington Post, Greenberg wanted $2 million for the information.
Caputo says that both he and Stone rejected Greenberg's offer.
Caputo said he became suspicious of Greenberg after an interview with the Office of Special Counsel in May. Caputo said that the Mueller team "knew far more than he did about the Greenberg approach," according to the news release.
“After my OSC interview, I deployed the crowdfunding resources of CaputoLegalFund.com to investigate Henry Greenberg in the United States and Russia,” Caputo said in a statement. “We discovered very quickly that this shady character has a long career as an FBI informant.”
(Last month, 2 On Your Side reported that Caputo's fund was designed to help pay for his legal defense tab, which stands at over $100,000 and continues to grow.)
According to the Washington Post story published Sunday, Caputo set up the meeting with Greenberg and Stone after Greenberg approached Caputo’s Russian-immigrant business partner.
The Post obtained a text message of Caputo's conversation with Stone after the meeting.
“How crazy is the Russian?” Caputo wrote.
Stone replied that Greenberg wanted "big" money for the information and called it a "waste of time."
Caputo replied, "The Russian Way. Anything at all interesting?"
Stone responded, “No.”
Caputo and Stone claim the meeting was all a set up by the FBI. To the Post, Caputo and Stone say that Greenberg, a Russian national, has claimed to work as an FBI informant.
While Caputo claims that his private investigation reveals that Greenberg is a longtime FBI informant, The Post wrote that there "is no evidence that Greenberg was working with the FBI in his interactions with Stone."
“If you believe that [Greenberg] took time off from his long career as an FBI informant to reach out to us in his spare time, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell you,” Caputo told The Post.
Two On Your Side reached out to the FBI's Press Office for comment.
Caputo provided 2 On Your Side with a link to the Greenberg Dossier, where "readers will find irrefutable proof that another FBI informant contacted advisors to presidential candidate Donald J. Trump in summer 2016, offering information on Hillary Clinton."
Caputo told The Post that he did not disclose the Greenberg meeting during testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence because he forgot about the incident.
Stone told The Post that he did disclose the meeting either, calling the meeting unimportant “due diligence” that would have been “political malpractice” not to explore.
Caputo refused an interview with 2 On Your Side Sunday. In a text, Caputo wrote, "It appears in the Post print edition tomorrow. I'll interview then. Father's Day."