“That would be unprecedented in the history of our country.”
President Donald Trump doubled down on his fiery rhetoric toward the Justice Department on Tuesday, saying it would be “illegal” and a “disgrace” if there were spies embedded in his campaign.
“I hope they weren’t,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. ”[…] That would be unprecedented in the history of our country.
“A lot of people are saying they had spies in my campaign. If they had spies in my campaign, that would be a disgrace to this country,” Trump added. ”[…] It would be very illegal, aside from everything else.”
Trump asked about Rosenstein meeting, goes off about “spies in my campaign” pic.twitter.com/EjAv7bfMfo
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 22,2018
The president’s comments follow his call from over the weekend for the Justice Department to launch a probe into whether the FBI used improper surveillance to infiltrate his campaign for political reasons.
“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,” Trump tweeted Sunday.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20,2018
Trump on Monday met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, a day after he issued the investigation demand.
However, according to a statement by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president may have come up short on his request, instead agreeing to have the probe added into an existing investigation:
Based on the meeting with the president, the Department of Justice has asked the inspector general to expand its current investigation to include any irregularities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s or the Department of Justice’s tactics concerning the Trump campaign. It was also agreed that White House Chief of Staff Kelly will immediately set up a meeting with the FBI, DOJ, and DNI together with Congressional Leaders to review highly classified and other information they have requested.
During Monday’s meeting with Moon, Trump also gave a rather blunt answer when asked about his current stance on his deputy attorney general.
Reporter: “Do you have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?”
Pres. Trump: “What’s your next question, please?” https://t.co/3EcvHLphoM pic.twitter.com/GfOAmzW4Qj
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 22,2018
“Do you have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?” a reporter asked. Trump responded: “What’s your next question, please?”
William is a Senior Congressional and Breaking News Reporter for IJR. Prior to that, he covered politics and breaking news at AOL.com, leading the sit… more
