Trump's already campaigning -- against the Russia probe
President Donald Trump's unproved assertions that the FBI spied on his campaign puts a twist on an old trial lawyer's saying.
"If the facts are against you, argue the law," the saying goes. "If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table."
Or in Trump's version, pound the investigators. Pushing more speculation than facts, Trump unleashed a blistering tweetstorm Sunday aimed at the FBI and Justice Department.
He would "demand" a Justice Department investigation into whether the department and the FBI "infiltrated or surveilled" his 2016 presidential campaign for political purposes, he tweeted. He also wanted to know "if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!"
Trump has been claiming since his early days as president that he was spied upon by President Barack Obama's administration. It is refreshing to hear that now, finally, he's interested in actual evidence.
The tweet appeared to be his response to reports in The New York Times and the Washington Post. A secret FBI source met with Trump campaign officials several times during the 2016 campaign, according to the newspapers, as part of the FBI's investigation into Russian interference with the election.
So, in other words, Trump's was demanding an investigation of the investigators who are investigating him. What could be wrong with that?
Well, let's give that "demand" the "What if Obama ..." test: What if Obama had demanded an investigation of investigators who happened to be investigating him for possible wrongdoing?
Would Republicans take kindly to that? I doubt that he would be greeted with candy and flowers.
But little stood in Trump's way on Monday when he pressured intelligence and law enforcement officials in a White House meeting. He wanted them to allow congressional Republicans to view highly classified information related to the Russia probe, including memos about the FBI informant.
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