Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said it would be a "mistake" for the FBI and the Justice Department to reveal a confidential informant in meetings with lawmakers set for Thursday.
"I think that's a mistake. I think it's unfortunate, because it could have a chilling effect on people willing to work with the agencies on a confidential basis," King said on CNN's "New Day."
The meetings will be about a confidential informant that was used in the beginning stages of an FBI investigation into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The gathering of information from the campaign was about counter-espionage against possible interference from Russia, not a criminal matter, King noted.
"They were trying to protect Donald Trump's campaign. They weren't trying to infiltrate it and steal his debate notes or something, which he implies, that a spy was in his campaign. They were trying to find out whether somebody was trying to infiltrate his campaign and convey information or gain information from the Russians," King said.
"If I had somebody in my campaign doing that, I'd want to know it. I'd want the FBI to find out about it, so we could put a stop to it," he added.
"The reason there are probably two meetings is that they scheduled one with Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy — Republican members of the House — there was such an outcry from the general public and also from the Democrats here in the Senate and the House, they said, well, we better have another meeting," King said.
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