WASHINGTON D.C. (Washington Post) .- Today, President Trump absolutely denied he worked for Russia, and he called FBI officials “known scoundrels” and “dirty cops”, as they have launched a counterintelligence investigation to determine whether he did.
Trump’s comments to reporters as he left the White House came in response to the announcement that an FBI investigation that was opened after Trump fired then-Director James B. Comey in May 2017 included a component to determine whether the president was seeking to help Russia.
“I never worked for Russia,” Trump said as he prepared to leave for an event in New Orleans, adding: “Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it’s a disgrace that you even asked that question because it’s a whole big fat hoax. It’s just a hoax.”
During a television appearance Saturday night, after the counterintelligence component of the Trump investigation was first reported by the New York Times, Trump called a question whether he had ever worked for Russia “insulting” but did not directly answer it.
On Monday, he did not equivocate and also attacked Comey and others in the FBI responsible for the investigation of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign. That investigation is being conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who was appointed after Trump fired Comey. “He was a bad cop and he was a dirty cop,” Trump said of Comey.
Dodging a question on U.S. intelligence on Jan. 14, President Trump slammed “dirty cops” who he claimed started the election meddling probe.
The president also attacked former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe as “a proven liar and was fired from the FBI.” McCabe made the decision to open the counterintelligence component of the Trump investigation.
Trump also pointed to “bias” shown by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, two employees who were having an affair and exchanged derogatory texts about Trump.
Speaking more broadly of FBI leadership at the time, Trump said “the people doing that investigation were people that have been caught that are known scoundrels. They’re … I guess you could say they’re dirty cops.”
Trump and Comey have sparred repeatedly, particularly since the release of a book last year by Comey that describes Trump’s presidency as a “forest fire” and portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar.
The Yucatan Times
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