Trump Accuses His Justice Department, FBI Of Favoring Democrats

In his latest unprecedented attack on federal law enforcement , President Donald Trump on Friday accused top officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI of favoring Democrats , even though many of them are actually Republicans.

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!

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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!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2018

The presidents comment came hours after he green-lighted the release of a controversial secret memo authored by congressional Republicans that alleges the FBI abused U.S. spying law investigating Trumps campaign. The FBI this week urged Congress not to release the memo, saying it contains misleading and inaccurate information.

Democrats, meanwhile, have said the memo is just another attempt by Republicans to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller s probe into the Trump campaign and Russia. Four former Trump officials have been charged in connection with the Mueller probe.

Trumps frustration with the Russia investigations, which hes often referred to as a hoax and a witch hunt, is longstanding and well documented. As the investigation has heated up in recent months, Trumps allies have turned to a long-running right-wing conspiracy: the so-called deep state. The most recent example of this theory stems from a series of text messages sent between two romantically involved FBI employees Agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page. In one message sent the morning after Trumps election win, Page joked about the existence of a secret society.

It may be time to declare war outright against the deep state and clear out the rot in the upper levels of the FBI and the Justice Department, Fox Business Lou Dobbs said last week.

The president seems to agree.

The notion that the FBI was somehow unfair to then-candidate Trump during the 2016 election should surprise anyone who followed it. The bureau at the time said nothing about its ongoing probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. But then-FBI Director James Comey excoriated Hillary Clinton in a press conference in which he announced that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges in its probe of her email.

Then, in the days leading up to the election, Comey sent two letters to Congress one that Strzok helped draft that set off a media firestorm about the Clinton email investigation. Clinton later blamed Comeys actions for her defeat.

Trumps insistence on Friday that the FBI and the Justice Department had politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats also undermines the reason his own White House claimed for Comeys firing in the first place. A memo justifying Comeys firing, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, said he could not defend the Directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken.

Trump quickly sabotaged Rosenteins explanation, telling NBC in an interview that the Russia thing was a factor in why he fired Comey, and that he would have removed the FBI director regardless of recommendation. At the time, Trump called Rosenstein a highly respected and very good guy, very smart guy.

Trump now reportedly insists Rosenstein, a Republican, is a Democrat , and a threat to his presidency.

This article has been updated to include previous statements of Trump and administration officials.

Ryan J. Reilly contributed reporting.

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