Donald Trump has continued his wild and wacky Twitter rant all weekend long about the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
From Politico:
"Who’s going to give back the young and beautiful lives (and others) that have been devastated and destroyed by the phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt? They journeyed down to Washington, D.C., with stars in their eyes and wanting to help our nation. ... They went back home in tatters," the president wrote on Twitter.
Trump has repeatedly called special counsel Mueller's probe a "witch hunt," a charge that in recent weeks has been coupled with renewed calls from his allies to end the probe soon. Some House lawmakers have gone even further, arguing that reports stating a confidential FBI informant met with Trump campaign officials means the investigation is irrevocably tainted.
"With Spies, or “Informants” as the Democrats like to call them because it sounds less sinister (but it’s not), all over my campaign," Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday, "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?"
It's unclear who Trump is referring to when he says individuals have "went back home in tatters." A score of former campaign aides have reportedly met with Mueller's team along with congressional investigators — racking up significant legal bills in the process.
It's not exactly clear who the "young and beautiful" folks are that Trump is referring to.
The investigation isn't exactly a "witch hunt" in that there have been at least five guilty pleas, including from former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, and former campaign aide Rick Gates.
It was Papadopoulos' conversation with an Australian diplomat regarding "dirt" on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign that began the FBI's original investigation into the president's campaign that has become the Mueller probe.
Who’s going to give back the young and beautiful lives (and others) that have been devastated and destroyed by the phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt? They journeyed down to Washington, D.C., with stars in their eyes and wanting to help our nation...They went back home in tatters!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2018
And just for good measure, the Trumpster threw out some more deflection on Hillary Clinton:
Why didn’t the 13 Angry Democrats investigate the campaign of Crooked Hillary Clinton, many crimes, much Collusion with Russia? Why didn’t the FBI take the Server from the DNC? Rigged Investigation!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2018
Yesterday, Trump got angry that a New York Times report referenced "a senior White House official" as a source for a report. Trump wants his followers to believe that journalists make these things up, so he simply announced the "official" didn't exist.
Except, the official does exist. And dozens of reporters were introduced to White House official Dan Pottinger who gave the briefing Trump references. The irony is that the White House press office insisted that briefing which hundreds of reporters heard be on background.
Reporter Yashar Ali tweeted the official's name even though the briefing was done "on background" because Ali isn't a White House reporter and not on the actual briefing conference call.
The Failing @nytimes quotes “a senior White House official,” who doesn’t exist, as saying “even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed.” WRONG AGAIN! Use real people, not phony sources.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018
The official is Matt Pottinger who serves on the National Security Council. He briefed dozens of reporters on background. https://t.co/5FUP7t8nYQ— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 26, 2018
2. To be clear, the only reason I tweeted Matt's name is because I'm not a White House reporter and I was not on this call. I do not believe reporters should violate off record or on background agreements under any circumstances. Not my agreement, so I can tweet.— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 26, 2018
3. BTW a background briefing with the WH press corps is much different than an individual reporters conversation with a source. Even though I know who some reporters sources are, I still wouldn't out them. That would be unethical. Background briefings aren't the same thing.— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 26, 2018
4. I've obtained audio of the WH press briefing. You can hear Raj Shah, Deputy Press Secretary, introduce Pottinger (along with the terms - which are standard) and then Pottinger makes the statement that POTUS says was never made. Lots of reporters in briefing room and on phone. pic.twitter.com/2gEYkRSyTv— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 26, 2018
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