President Trump doubled down both online and to reporters on his completely unsubstantiated allegation the FBI embedded a spy in his presidential campaign Wednesday in a blatant effort to muddy the waters surrounding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
President Donald Trump has branded his latest attempt to discredit the special counsel’s Russia investigation as “spygate,” part of a newly invigorated strategy embraced by his Republican colleagues to raise suspicions about the probe that has dogged his presidency since the start.
Trump now is zeroing in on — and at times embellishing — reports that a longtime U.S. government informant approached members of his 2016 campaign during the presidential election in a possible bid to glean intelligence on Russian efforts to sway the election. He tweeted Wednesday morning that the FBI has been caught in a “major SPY scandal.”
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Trump told one ally this week that he wanted “to brand” the informant a “spy,” believing the more nefarious term would resonate more in the media and with the public.
He went on to debut the term “Spygate” on Wednesday, despite its previous associations with a 2007 NFL scandal over videotaping coaches.
After former DNI and CIR Advisory Board member James Clapper explained on "The View" the FBI was not spying on the Trump campaign but rather investigating evidence members of the Trump campaign were in contact with Russians, the president twisted his remarks to bolster the lie.
CNN:
During that interview, this exchange happened between Clapper and co-host Joy Behar:
BEHAR: "So I ask you, was the FBI spying on Trump's campaign?"
CLAPPER: "No, they were not. They were spying on, a term I don't particularly like, but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage or influence which is what they do."
BEHAR: "Well, why doesn't [Trump] like that? He should be happy."
CLAPPER: "He should be."
Watch:
Former CIA officer John Sipher, in an exclusive conversation with Director, Actor, and Activist Rob Reiner, Foreign Policy Research Institute Fellow and Former FBI Agent Clint Watts, and Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency General Michael Hayden explains the dangerous game the president's playing by tearing down our institutions for short-term gain.
Seething over Russia probe, Trump tears into ‘spygate’ (AP)
James Clapper did NOT say what Donald Trump keeps saying he said (CNN)