Trump Demands DOJ Investigate FBI: Planted "Mole or Spy" in His 2016 Campaign

Let's face it: Trump hates the FBI and has since Comey's days

DOJ Responds to Trump’s Demand for Action on FBI “Mole and Spy” in the Trump 2016 Campaign Camp

That is the headlines in Washington from Newsweek — President Trump on Sunday demanded that the Justice Department investigate whether the department or the FBI “infiltrated or surveilled” his campaign at the behest of the Obama administration, following through on his frequent threats to intervene in the special counsel inquiry as he targets those he views as political enemies.

The original post related to this entire story and the basis for the whole affair in question from the starting point is posted here up until now and is under the Code Name: “CROSSFIE HURRICANE.”

Trump’s specific tweet: “I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes, and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!”

Legal experts said such a presidential intervention had little precedent, and could force a clash between the sitting president and his DOJ that would be reminiscent of the one surrounding Nixon during Watergate, when a string of top officials resigned rather than carry out his order to fire a special prosecutor investigating him.

“If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” said Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy AG who is overseeing the Russia inquiry.

But, by handing the question to the IG Rosenstein appeared to be trying to thread the needle, giving the president what he said he wanted without fully bowing to his demands.

While most presidents who have faced investigations have responded with increased discretion to avoid being seen as trying to influence the outcome, Trump has dispensed with any notion that he is not trying to do so. He and his aides have branded the investigation a “witch hunt and a hoax,” calling for an end to it, and trying to set its boundaries, and now the president is ordering a review of how it was handled.

From U. of Texas Law Professor Stephen I. Vladeck: “I can’t think of a prior example of a sitting president ordering the Justice Department to conduct an investigation like this one.  That’s little more than a transparent effort to undermine an ongoing investigation.”

Vladeck added: “If Mr. Trump were to follow through with the demand, it seems to me that the recipients of such an order should resign — and that we’re heading for another Saturday Night Massacre.”

Trump’s demand directive prompted speculation that he might be trying to push Rosenstein out of his job without explicitly firing him, a move Trump has frequently considered. Rosenstein pushed back earlier this month against Republican demands for more visibility into the special counsel’s inquiry, saying his department “is not going to be extorted.”

From Barbara L. McQuade, former U.S. attorney in Michigan, said: “This demand puts Dep AG Rod Rosenstein in a difficult position. He can’t open an investigation based on a political demand, but if he refuses and is fired or resigns, he loses control of the Mueller investigation. Maybe just what Trump wants?”

Among the material Trump and congressional Republicans demands are documents related to an FBI informant who was sent to talk to three Trump 2016 campaign aides.

(Note: The informant was NOT a “spy, or plant, or mole” as Trump implies. My full coverage of that informant story is in this related link here).

Trump also alleged that the informant had been a spy dispatched to infiltrate his campaign for political purposes. In fact, FBI agents sent the informant to contact Trump’s campaign advisers only after receiving evidence that two of the aides (Carter Page and George Papadopoulos) had suspicious contacts linked to Russia.

Trump began his day railing about the scope of the Mueller investigation in a series of morning tweets that has become a weekend ritual for him. Trump pointed to a New York Times report that detailed how the special counsel is examining whether Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offered help to the Trump campaign, and whether they coordinated with Russia in doing so tweeting:

“Things are really getting ridiculous. The Failing and Crooked (but not as Crooked as Hillary Clinton) @nytimes has done a long & boring story indicating that the World’s most expensive Witch Hunt has found nothing on Russia & me so now they are looking at the rest of the World!”

Noteworthy: Trump did not challenge the accuracy of The Times’s account, which was the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to his campaign in the months before the presidential election. But he suggested that the breadth of the inquiry was proof that Mr. Mueller’s investigation was a partisan exercise geared toward harming Republican congressional candidates as he continued tweeting:

“Now that the Witch Hunt has given up on Russia and is looking at the rest of the World, they should easily be able to take it into the Mid-Term Elections where they can put some hurt on the Republican Party. Don’t worry about Dems FISA Abuse, missing Emails or Fraudulent Dossier!”

Trump was alluding to his contention that a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) warrant was granted to look at Carter Page, one of his campaign associates, was improperly obtained and based on false information provided by his political opponents, including a dossier that included salacious information about him. Under pressure from Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, the DOJ said back in March that it would begin an investigation into the surveillance of Page. 

Law enforcement officials had long had concerns that Mr. Page, a former investment banker based in Moscow, was acting as a Russian agent (Note: Dating back to 2013 as a matter of fact).

But Trump continued to make the allegation that the court-ordered FISA surveillance of Page was unjustified, and he continued to claim that the special counsel (Mueller) should be looking not at his campaign, but instead at his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton. In more Trump wild tweets:

“At what point does this soon to be $20,000,000 Witch Hunt, composed of 13 Angry and Heavily Conflicted Democrats and two people who have worked for Obama for 8 years, STOP!” 

“They have found no Collusion with Russia, No Obstruction, but they aren’t looking at the corruption in the Hillary Clinton Campaign where she deleted 33,000 Emails, got $145,000,000 while Secretary of State, paid McCabe’s wife $700,000 (and got off the FBI hook along with Terry M) and so much more.”

It is not clear where Trump got the cost of Mueller’s inquiry. The DOJ reported at the end of last year that the special counsel’s investigation had incurred at least $6.7 million in expenses in its first four and a half months, and Mr. Trump’s own budget allocated $10 million for his office for 2019.

Also, Trump often charges that Mueller is leading a team of DEM activists who are out to get him, citing that some investigators are DEMS who supported Clinton, like seeking to discredit Andrew McCabe, the former deputy FBI director by noting that his wife ran as a Democrat in a VA campaign with donations and support from former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally.

[Note: Robert Mueller is a Republican, as are several members of his staff. The overall investigation is overseen by Rod Rosenstein, another Republican, who was Trump’s own choice to be deputy AG. But, none of that has stopped Trump from suggesting that the investigation was politically driven and should end].

My 2 Cents: This story can be located at various other sources like the NY TIMES, CNN, NEWSWEEK (above link), and most of the main networks – all very reputable places.

This is big without doubt – where is ends up – well that is anyone’s guess – most probable like Nixon and Watergate or damn close to it.

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.