President Donald Trump has lashed out at the ‘crooked’ leadership of the FBI, demanding to know why ‘spies’ were sent into his campaign to purportedly investigate Russian infiltration attempts, rather than anyone warning campaign leadership.
‘With Spies, or “Informants” as the Democrats like to call them because it sounds less sinister (but it’s not), all over my campaign, even from a very early date, why didn’t the crooked highest levels of the FBI or “Justice” contact me to tell me of the phony Russia problem?’ Trump wrote on Saturday afternoon.
In recent days, academic Stefan Halper, 73, has been identified in published reports as the suspected paid FBI informant who met with multiple Trump campaign members in 2016.
Democrats have defended the insertion of informants into the campaign as a legitimate counterintelligence operation targeting Russian attempts to infiltrate Trump’s campaign, claiming it was not a politically motivated investigation to dig dirt that could then be used against Trump.
Academic Stefan Halper, 73, (above) has been identified in published reports as the suspected paid FBI informant who met with multiple Trump campaign members in 2016
Trump has lashed out at the ‘crooked’ leadership of the FBI, demanding to know why ‘spies’ were sent into his campaign
Halper is a well-connected academic and veteran of three former Republican administrations, with ties to both the FBI and MI6.
Both he and the FBI have declined to comment on prior reports that he is the informant who met with Trump campaign staffers George Papadopoulos, Carter Page and Sam Clovis.
In subsequent tweets on Saturday, Trump pivoted to attacks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, in an apparent attempt to link that investigation with what he has taken to calling ‘Spygate’.
‘This whole Russia Probe is Rigged. Just an excuse as to why the Dems and Crooked Hillary lost the Election and States that haven’t been lost in decades,’ Trump wrote.
’13 Angry Democrats, and all Dems if you include the people who worked for Obama for 8 years. #SPYGATE & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST!,’ he continued.
An apparent allusion to the film ‘Twelve Angry Men’, about a jury that nearly convicts a man before finding reasonable doubt, ’13 Angry Men’ seems to refer to the staff of Mueller’s probe.
Trump referenced the film Twelve Angry Men (above) in a pair of tweets about the ’13 Angry Democrats’ he says form the core of Mueller’s investigative team
Out of the 17 attorney staff members on the team that have been publicly identified, 13 have been identified as registered Democrats in published reports. They are Greg Andres, Rush Atkinson, Ryan Dickey, Michael Dreeben, Kyle Freeny, Andrew Goldstein, Adam Jed, Elizabeth Prelogar, James Quarles, Jeannie Rhee, Brandon Van Grack, Andrew Weissmann and Aaron Zelinsky.
The other four publicly identified team members are registered as unaffiliated, or do not appear to be registered to vote.
‘When will the 13 Angry Democrats (& those who worked for President O), reveal their disqualifying Conflicts of Interest?’ Trump wrote in a third tweet on Saturday.
‘It’s been a long time now! Will they be indelibly written into the Report along with the fact that the only Collusion is with the Dems, Justice, FBI & Russia?’
In March, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General launched a review of possible surveillance abuses by the FBI and Justice officials related to the inquiry into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election.
Last week, the DOJ said that the review would be expanded to investigate whether there was ‘any impropriety or political motivation in how the FBI conducted its counterintelligence investigation’ into alleged Russian election interference.