Trump has a habit of calling for investigations of his opponents
But president still objects if Congress probes him
President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to urge House Democrats not to investigate him. On Wednesday, they bucked — hard. New House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff outlined a wide-ranging probe that includes Trump’s business, family and whether he might be compromised by foreign actors.
Thursday morning, Trump lashed out on Twitter.
“He is going to be looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal, even though there is no reason to be doing so,” Trump tweeted. “Never happened before! Unlimited Presidential Harassment . ... The Dems and their committees are going ‘nuts.’”
He added later: “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT! It should never be allowed to happen again!”
But as with many things Trump, his past comments don’t exactly square with his current posture. Over the years, Trump has made a habit for calling for investigations into major — and some minor — controversies involving his political opponents.
Trump would argue that these investigations were warranted and the ones of him are not. But that’s a tough argument for two reasons: First, we have already seen several high-profile guilty pleas and convictions in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, along with many hints of big potential future findings. And second, Trump has often called for investigations based on innuendo, suspicion and specious evidence.
No example is better than Trump’s suggestions that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wasn’t born in the United States, which Trump repeatedly said warranted probing. But there are many more. Let’s run through 18 of them:
1. Birtherism
July 18, 2012: “Congratulations to @RealSheriffJoe on his successful Cold Case Posse investigation which claims @BarackObama’s ’birth certificate’ is fake.” 2. Benghazi Aug. 15, 2013 : “.@GOP HOUSE LEADERSHIP — ESTABLISH SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI. THERE IS A MASSIVE COVERUP”
Sept. 10, 2013: “We deserve all the answers
on Benghazi! http://bit.ly/1eAFb5m @RepWOLFPress.” Nov. 7, 2013: “We still have not learned the full truth on Benghazi. Four Americans were killed. Congress must act!”
3. IRS targeting of conservative groups
May 29, 2013: “House
GOP better get its act together.Defund ObamaCare. Out negotiate on debt ceiling. Form commissions on Benghazi & IRS. No excuses!”
4. Fast and Furious Sept. 13, 2011: “The White House is continuing to be openly uncooperative with the Fast and Furious investigation. American lives were lost. We need answers.”
5. Obama’s national security leaks (In this case, there was an investigation, but Trump wanted an independent counsel.)
June 27, 2012: “It is terrible that @BarackObama did not appoint an independent counsel to investigate the national security leaks. No accountability.”
June 11, 2012: “The Justice Department’s investigation into the national security leaks is not independent. This is a very grave situation.”
‘‘
13 Angry Democrats, should look into the missing DNC Server, Crooked Hillary’s illegally deleted Emails, the Pakistani Fraudster, Uranium One, Podesta & so much more. It’s a Democrat Con Job! DONALD TRUMP
on Twitter
Sept. 11, 2012: “Whatever happened to Obama’s ’independent investigation’ into national security leaks from his administration? Where’s the media?”
6. Democrats for collusion and obstruction
June 8, 2018: “Now, the Democrats have had massive collusion, massive obstruction, and they should be investigated.”
Aug. 14, 2018: “Lou Dobbs: “This cannot go forward ... this Special Counsel with all of his conflicts, with his 17 Angry Democrats, without any evidence of collusion by the Trump Campaign and Russia. The Dems are the ones who should be investigated.” Thank you Lou, so true!
7. Former FBI Director James Comey Via the New York Times in November: “President Trump told the White House counsel in the spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political adversaries: his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with the conversation.”
8. Former FBI acting director Andrew
McCabe
May 18, 2018: “Why isn’t disgraced FBI official Andrew McCabe being investigated for the $700,000 Crooked Hillary Democrats in Virginia, led by Clinton best friend Terry M (under FBI investigation that they killed) gave to McCabe’s wife in her run for office? Then dropped case on Clinton!”
9. Peter Strzok and others at the FBI Aug. 14, 2018: “.... guy was corrupt and had anti-Trump animus. Strzok and others at the FBI should be criminally investigated for the way the conducted this investigation. Instead, Mueller is pretending nothing went wrong. He used Strzok, he used the Clinton DNC Dossier ... the whole thing .... ”
10. The writer of the anonymous New York Times op-ed
Sept. 7, 2018: “I would say (Attorney General) Jeff (Sessions) should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security.”
11, 12, 13 and 14. Missing DNC server, Clinton/Uranium One, Imran Awan, John Podesta
July 7, 2018: “The Rigged Witch Hunt, originally headed by FBI lover boy Peter S (for one year) & now, 13 Angry Democrats, should look into the missing DNC Server, Crooked Hillary’s illegally deleted Emails, the Pakistani Fraudster, Uranium One, Podesta & so much more. It’s a Democrat Con Job!”
15. Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton’s meeting on the tarmac
April 15, 2018: “Comey throws AG Lynch “under the bus!” Why can’t we all find out what happened on the tarmac in the back of the plane with Wild Bill and Lynch? Was she promised a Supreme Court seat, or AG, in order to lay off Hillary. No golf and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!”
16. The investigation of Hillary Clinton
Oct. 11, 2016: “We have to investigate Hillary Clinton, and we have to investigate the investigation.” (He said some version of this repeatedly in October 2016.)
17. Solyndra
Feb. 1, 2012: “Two of Obama’s money bundlers are directly linked to Solyndra. They’ve got to look into it. It is a mess.”
18. Former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman
Aug. 26, 2013: “Gov. Cuomo’s Moreland Comm should be looking at AG Schneiderman shaking down those under investigation/ in litigation for campaign $$$”
Oct. 4, 2013: “When will lightweight hack Attorney General be investigated for his repeated prosecutorial misconduct?