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"Investigate the investigators!" Become the new "Block it!"
Trump and his allies, seeking to amplify allegations that the FBI was spying on his 2016 campaign, seize the information and statements of Attorney General William P. Barr to launch a political rallying cry as an antidote to the lawyer special Robert S. Mueller. III conclusions.
Rejected by critics as an extravagant conspiracy theory, the so-called "spygate" is becoming a central part of the Trump campaign as it seeks to become offensive as a result of a report that has identified 10 case of potential obstruction to justice by Trump. The campaign publicly calls for the opening of criminal investigations on former FBI officials, spiky fundraising campaigns and the sale of spy-themed merchandise. The goal, say officials, is to turn the Russian inquiry into a political winner who could help him get another term.
"After two years of [investigations] and being justified, and now, the tables are now turning for investigators to be investigated, there is some fair indignation that is warranted, "said Tim Murtaugh, communications director of Trump's re-election bid . "The president has already shown that he wanted to talk about it. He tweeted about it. I'm sure he'll talk about it at rallies. This is something that the campaign will continue to point to.
Murtaugh pointed to an article in the New York Times Thursday, describing how the FBI sent an investigator posing as a research assistant to meet with Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos in 2016 – a concealed effort to better understand the links of the campaign with Russia. Murtaugh said that it was "amazing" that the story did not receive as much media coverage as some Russian-related episodes discovered by Mueller.
Referring to Friday's story, Trump said he was "bigger than Watergate, as far as I'm concerned."
Since the publication of the Mueller report, President Trump has tried to reverse the scenario by pretending to be a victim. (Alex Brandon / AP)
Trump has long sought to portray his political opponents as criminal suspects, spending much of 2016 leading "Lock Her Up!" Songs that targeted his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
After Trump's behavior was the subject of a criminal investigation by Mueller – who did not establish that his campaign had plotted with Russia's intervention in the elections, but had indicated that he had perhaps hindered justice – the president is seeking to change the speech by highlighting the allegations of frivolous spying FBI.
[[[[Mueller's report exposes evidence of obstruction against the president]
Barr gave a boost to Barr, who used recent congressional hearings on Mueller's investigation to express his concern that Trump's campaign was being abused. When one insisted, Barr refused to present evidence and stated that he was simply "concerned" and "looking at it".
Republicans have long claimed that the FBI's actions targeted Carter Page, the former Trump campaign advisor, whose communications had been secretly monitored in late 2016 and early 2017 under a warrant of the Foreign Intelligence Monitoring Court, constituted political espionage. Page's monitoring took place after he left the Trump campaign and was authorized by several judges.
Democrats have criticized Barr's allegations as irresponsible and dismissed Trump's espionage charges as a political smoke screen aimed at diverting attention from Mueller's findings.
"The Trump campaign is attempting to use a false conspiracy theory to deflect the Trump government's attacks on the rule of law and its attempts to conceal Mueller's findings," said Daniel Wessel, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. "Voters will not be fooled."
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice, Michael Horowitz, is conducting an internal investigation into certain aspects of the investigation in Russia, including the mandate of FISA to. Barr said the Horowitz report would likely be completed in May or June.
Trump also said that he would soon downgrade the documents related to the mandate.
"Declassify this and so much more – yes," Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Boston Herald Radio's "The Adriana Cohen Show". "I will publish this and many other things."
Trump's focus on redefining the causes of the Russia inquiry serves beyond easing its political base, campaigners and allies said.
He is helping the president create a new narrative posing as a victim even as House Democrats are conducting numerous investigations into Trump, his administration, and his businesses.
As democrats issue subpoenas, hold hearings and seek to question witnesses identified in the Mueller report, Trump and his allies plan to offer counter-programming by intensifying their public scrutiny of the origins of the Russian investigation.
Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-SOW), Trump confidante and chair of the Judiciary Committee, announced his intention to investigate the Trump 2016 campaign investigation.
"When the Mueller report goes to bed and it will be soon, our committee will look at how it all began," he said Wednesday at a hearing with Barr. .
[Barr spars with Democrats over ‘snitty’ Mueller letter]
The Mueller report documented that the FBI's counterintelligence investigation began after a foreign government alerted US officials that Papadopoulos claimed in 2016 that he had heard of an attempt by Russia to help the Trump anonymously posting harmful information about Clinton.
The Mueller report also documented numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials as the Kremlin took steps to interfere in the elections. Several Trump associates have been receptive to Russian help and some have been convicted of lying to investigators about their communications with the Russians, the report said. Mueller has not established that the Trump campaign had plotted Russia's efforts to influence the elections.
Trump's allies believe that it is politically advantageous to continue to talk about the investigation of Russia, because it allows the president to pretend to be a victim of forces as powerful as the FBI. Most do not mention that the FBI only revealed its investigation of the Trump campaign after the elections, when it made unprecedented revelations about its investigation into Clinton's use of private emails to government purposes.
Clinton, who has not been charged, said his loss was partly caused by FBI revelations in the days leading up to the election.
Bryan Lanza, counselor for Trump's campaign and transition in 2016, said the president could politically prevail by using Russia's investigation to attack the Democrats.
"There are party democrats who want to turn the page on an ugly part of American history," he said. "But we will not let them go."
The Trump campaign has already sought to turn the spying allegations into a fundraising pitch. There is evidence that it works. A Republican party official said Trump's campaign had raised more than $ 1 million in two days since the publication of the Mueller report last month. A campaign leader said the fundraiser had taken place within 24 hours of the report's release and that the April 18 Congress had seen an increase of about 250 percent over the previous days. The two officials requested anonymity to describe the figures of the internal fundraiser.
The campaign, on the other hand, sells spy-themed merchandise. A t-shirt for sale represents former President Barack Obama donning a pair of spy glasses while he was hiding in thick green shrubs.
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