Kyle Mazza/ZUMA
President Donald Trump on Friday railed against the FBI and Justice Department on Twitter, accusing officials on Friday having “politicized the sacred investigative process” to favor Democrats.
The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans – something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2018
“You had Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party try to hide the fact that they gave money to GPS Fusion to create a Dossier which was used by their allies in the Obama Administration to convince a Court misleadingly, by all accounts, to spy on the Trump Team.” Tom Fitton, JW
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2018
The tweets appeared to lay the groundwork for the highly contentious release of a four-page, Republican-authored memo that reportedly alleges surveillance abuses by the FBI in the targeting of a former Trump campaign adviser. The memo’s release, which is expected later on Friday, would come despite stern warnings from the FBI that the memo paints a false picture by relaying misleading and cherry-picked information.
Democrats charge the White House with using the memo to discredit Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who played a role in reauthorizing the FBI’s surveillance, and ultimately discredit the special counsel’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia that he oversees. CNN reported that Trump admitted as much to his associates this week.
Trump’s attack on Friday echoed previous complaints over a baseless conspiracy theory last year, when he accused the Obama administration of having wiretapped Trump Tower during the election. House Intelligence Commitee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the same man leading the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign, then helped prop up the president’s claim.
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
