Trump Attacks ex-CIA Chief over 'Hit Job' Russia Probe

W460

President Donald Trump attacked the probe into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia as a "political hit job" on Monday, as a part of a mounting White House effort to paint the probe as politically motivated.

In the latest salvo from Trump's administration and his Republican party, the president assailed former CIA chief John Brennan, a strident critic, as having initiated the investigation.

A day earlier Trump demanded the Justice Department investigate the FBI for allegedly planting an informant in his campaign, and his lawyer pressed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to speed up the probe to avoid it affecting November's congressional elections.

Both moves highlighted the heightened political stakes surrounding the year-old probe, as Mueller seeks to interview Trump himself, and as talk increases of an impeachment effort against the president if the investigation finds evidence of collusion and obstruction of justice.

"This was a Political hit job, this was not an Intelligence Investigation," Trump said in a series of tweets, quoting Fox News commentator Dan Bongino.

Brennan, the CIA's head from 2013 to 2017, "started this entire debacle about President Trump," he said. "He has disgraced himself, he has disgraced the Country, he has disgraced the entire Intelligence Community."

- FBI infiltrated Trump campaign? -

In recent weeks Trump has stepped up his attacks on the Russia investigation, aiming to erode trust in Mueller's integrity in the event the probe takes aim at the president himself.

After hitting the one-year mark last week, Mueller's probe has taken on increasing political weight as the country heads towards midterm elections. 

Investigators have already issued 22 indictments, including of top Trump aides like chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

More indictments are expected, but Mueller and his team have remained absolutely silent about the direction of the investigation and what evidence they have, especially with regard to Trump.

Aiming to exploit that silence, on Sunday Trump took to Twitter to order the Justice Department to investigate the FBI's implanting of "at least one" informant in his 2016 campaign, suggesting it was an act of political espionage by the administration of president Barack Obama.

Late last week some U.S. media identified a British-based American academic and former government official, with longstanding ties to the CIA, as the informant who sought meetings with several Trump aides during the campaign at the FBI's request.

Aiming to defuse a clash between the Justice Department and the White House, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that the department's inspector general would examine the matter.

"If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action," he said.

Trump was to meet Rosenstein, FBI Director Chris Wray, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates, on Monday afternoon to further discuss the issue.

Meanwhile Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani added pressure on the probe, telling media Mueller hopes to wrap up by September 1 -- a target date that no one on Mueller's team has themselves made public.

The White House is gambling that by both pressuring and denigrating the investigation, Republicans can gain voter support ahead of the November elections. If Mueller finds evidence of criminal behavior by Trump, it is crucial the Republicans prevent Democrats from gaining control of the House of Representatives, which would rule on any impeachment motion.

Analysts say Trump's strategy to attack the CIA and FBI could be working.

"The FBI and DOJ are reluctant to publicly respond in any way that makes them appear political," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. 

"By tweeting the accusation, the president has already cast the doubt in the public mind."

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