In two early morning tweets Friday, President Trump — who is expected to release the four-page FISA memo at any moment — blasted the FBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and Democrats. His tweets are based on information related to the contents of the memo. Praising the “Rank and File” of the FBI and DOJ, Trump attacked “top Leadership” for politicizing the “sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats over Republicans” and addressed the illegal spying on members of “the Trump Team” based on the now-discredited “dossier.”
Beginning at 3:33 a.m., Trump tweeted:
The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans – something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!
In a second tweet a few minutes later, the president quoted Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton on the foundation of both the memo and the Mueller probe:
“You had Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party try to hide the fact that they gave money to GPS Fusion to create a Dossier which was used by their allies in the Obama Administration to convince a Court misleadingly, by all accounts, to spy on the Trump Team.” Tom Fitton, JW
Taken together — and considering that Trump has seen the memo — the tweets help set the stage for the memo’s release, which is expected as early as Friday morning. The memo reportedly details FISA abuses by the FBI and DOJ related to surveillance of Trump associates as part of the Trump/Russia collusion investigations. The memo, in turn, rests on intelligence gathered over a period of months as part of an investigation of the FBI and DOJ. That investigation — conducted in secret — has been led by Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who serves as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
The president’s tweets are the most recent exchange in a battle between Trump and some of the nation’s top law-enforcement officers, including FBI Director Christopher Wray — whom Trump appointed himself. With the release of the memo, that battle will certainly take on even greater vigor, with many speculating that Wray will resign over the release. Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has already resigned, apparently due — at least in part — to the memo’s pending release.
Photo: DonaldTrump.com
