President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would demand an investigation into whether the FBI had placed surveillance on his 2016 campaign — and whether such activity was ordered by his members of the Obama administration.
Ramping up a public war of words between the Oval Office and the law enforcement agency, the president said that he would formally request the Department of Justice probe the FBI’s role in investigating his campaign. His remarks come amid reports that the agency had placed a confidential informant somewhere in Trump’s organization, while he was a candidate.
Trump’s implication of Barack Obama, also renews a fight the president picked early in his tenure with his predecessor. In March of 2017, Trump boldly asserted that Obama of ordering surveillance of Trump’s residence during the 2016 campaign — an accusation which the former president flatly denied. The FBI, then led by James Comey, said there was no information to support the claim.
Last week, Trump reacted to the suggestion of potential FBI spying as being “bigger than Watergate.” Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported this week that allies close to the president were working to expose the source.
Trump and the FBI have been locked in an unprecedented public battle. The president and his allies have long complained about a “deep state” agenda of government officials actively working to undermine his presidency.
In an interview with The Post this week, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani — Trump’s personal lawyer — accused law enforcement officials of “covering” for actions committed by the Obama administration.
