FBI Director Christopher Wray
President Donald Trump recently claimed that the FBI planted a “spy” in the White House in order to obtain information from members of his 2016 campaign, and on Wednesday he ramped up his criticism of the bureau, seeming to try to popularize the term “Spygate” for the so-called scandal.
Trump called over the weekend for an investigation into the possibility that the FBI and the Justice Department “infiltrated or surveilled” his campaign, and even suggested his predecessor Barack Obama may have requested the spy to be planted. The president’s demand came after reports surfaced last week that the FBI used a confidential source as part of its probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Lawmakers met on Thursday to discuss the issue surrounding Trump’s allegations. Earlier this week, it was announced that Democrats were reportedly excluded from attending a Justice Department briefing about the alleged FBI informant. White House chief of staff John Kelly set up this meeting after speaking with Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
“SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!” Trump said in a tweet Wednesday morning.
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Trump made similar claims while speaking to reporters on Tuesday:
According to The Washington Post, the FBI’s source is a conservative former University of Cambridge professor named Stefan A. Halper who “had contact with at least three advisers to Trump during the campaign.”
In other Twitter posts, Trump cited comments made by former New Jersey judge Andrew Napolitano. Napolitano, who has often appeared on Fox News, said “it’s clear that they had eyes and ears all over the Trump campaign.” The former judge was interviewed on Fox & Friends on Wednesday.
Former national intelligence director James Clapper said in a television interview on Tuesday that there is no evidence that the FBI spied on Trump’s campaign.
“They were not. They were spying — a term I don’t particularly like — on what the Russians were doing,” Clapper said on The View.
Clapper has a new book out called Facts and Fears.
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