‘Investigate the investigators!’ Trump eggs on feds looking into origins of Russia probe

President Trump egged on the feds to ‘investigate the investigators’ saying FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, along with former DNI chief James Clapper and ex-FBI boss James Comey, should be probed. 

The president’s comments came after the New York Times reported Thursday night that U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into FBI and Justice Department misconduct had turned into a criminal investigation.

At the same time, two top Senate Republicans revealed new messages between the FBI lovers in a letter sent to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson demanding an explanation for why the watchdog hadn’t probed leaks coming from the intelligence community.

President Trump name-dropped the FBI lovers Peter Strzok and Lisa Page as he called on the feds to ‘investigate the investigators’ outside the White House Friday 

President Trump said to 'investigate the investigators' as he left the White House Friday. The comment comes after the news broke that a probe into FBI and DOJ misconduct had turned into a full-fledged criminal investigation

President Trump said to ‘investigate the investigators’ as he left the White House Friday. The comment comes after the news broke that a probe into FBI and DOJ misconduct had turned into a full-fledged criminal investigation 

Former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok was back in the news this week with two top Republican senators releasing new text messages to his lover Lisa Page

Former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok was back in the news this week with two top Republican senators releasing new text messages to his lover Lisa Page 

Lisa Page (left) , the former legal counsel to former FBI Director Andrew McCabe, was referenced by President Trump in the South Lawn Friday

Lisa Page (left) , the former legal counsel to former FBI Director Andrew McCabe, was referenced by President Trump in the South Lawn Friday 

Republicans Ron Johnson, the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s chair, and Chuck Grassley, who leads the Finance Committee, sent a letter Wednesday to Atkinson asking why Strzok would have texted Page the message, ‘Think our sisters have begun leaking like mad. Scorned and worried and political, they’re kicking in to overdrive.’ 

The message was sent on December 15, 2016, just weeks after Trump won the presidential election.   

Other messages from Strzok during the first months of Trump’s presidency also seemingly refer to media leaks coming from within the intelligence community. 

Strzok and Page were top of mind for Trump as he left the White House Friday for a trip to South Carolina, followed by a weekend stay at Camp David. 

After calling on the feds to ‘investigate the investigators!’ a common rallying cry from the president and his GOP allies, Trump name-dropped the FBI lovers and other ex-government officials who are now on the president’s bad side.   

‘Whether it’s Strzok and Page, whether it’s Clapper and whether it’s Comey and all of these people. Because terrible things went on to our country,’ Trump said.  

Trump said he couldn’t preview Durham’s criminal investigation. 

‘I can’t tell you what’s happening,’ he said. 

But he did compliment Attorney General William Barr, calling him a ‘very honorable man.’ 

Democrats have voiced concerns that Barr has turned the Justice Department into the political arm of the Trump White House. 

Trump argued the Department of Justice is merely sniffing out corruption.  

 ‘I think you’re going to see a lot of really bad things,’ he said, suggesting that some government officials have been ‘very dishonest.’   

‘And, again, I leave it up to the attorney general. And I leave it all up to the people that are working with the attorney general who I don’t know,’ he added. ‘I think you’ll see things nobody would believe.’ 

The president again called the Russia investigation ‘the worst hoax in the history of our country.’ 

 Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe found Russia had meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump, though investigators didn’t find that there was collusion between the Russians and Trump’s team. 

‘And they are using that to impeach one of the most successful presidents,’ Trump added, despite House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry being related to his dealings with Ukraine during the presidency, not Russia. 

He suggested the economy would be in peril if he was no longer president.  

Trump also seemed to dismiss reporting that said he was looking to hire a team to help him in his impeachment fight. 

‘But here’s the thing, I don’t have teams, everyone’s talking about teams,’ he told reporters. 

‘I’m the team,’ he boasted. 

‘I did nothing wrong,’ he said. 

He then segued back to the FBI lovers once again, referencing text messages they sent where they mentioned an ‘insurance policy,’ which Trump has interpreted as two Hillary Clinton supporters launching an investigation into him in case he won the election. 

‘I did nothing wrong. This was going on before I got elected. This was going on from the insurance policy. Strzok and his lover Page. This was the insurance policy. Was Strzok and Page. We did nothing wrong,’ Trump said. 

And while he said he didn’t need a team, he said the assault on him extended more broadly. 

‘This is a takedown of the Republican Party,’ Trump said. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk