Trump slams Brennan over ‘hit job’ Russia probe
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump attacked the investigation of possible collusion between his campaign and Russia as a “political hit job” on Monday, alleging the CIA and FBI were out of control in probing his team.
A day after demanding the Justice Department probe the FBI’s use of an informant in his 2016 campaign, Trump assailed former CIA chief John Brennan as having initiated the investigation into his team’s contacts with Russia.
Trump’s broadside came shortly before the swearing-in of Gina Haspel as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he introduced her as “a very special person,” uniquely qualified to lead “the most elite intel- ligence professionals on the planet Earth.”
Yet in a series of tweets, Trump lashed out at Haspel’s predecessor, Brennan, the CIA’s head from 2013 to 2017, quoting Fox News commentator Dan Bongino as saying he had “started this entire debacle about President Trump.”
“This was a political hit job, this was not an Intelligence Investigation,” Trump tweeted, citing Bongino. “John Brennan is panicking. He has disgraced himself, he has disgraced the Country, he has disgraced the entire Intelligence Community.”
Trump was referring to the exposure of a Britishbased CIA source over the weekend who reportedly befriended several Trump campaign aides in 2016 to help the nascent FBI probe into Russian election meddling.
On Friday, Trump said “at least one” FBI representative was “implanted” in his campaign. On Sunday he followed up by demanding the Justice Department investigate whether the bureau infiltrated his campaign for political purposes, and whether it was done at the behest of Barack Obama’s administration.
The demand sparked fears of a direct clash with top Justice officials. But concerns eased after the department said its inspector general would examine the issue.
“If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.