Trump âs new completely incoherent attack on the Russia investigation â ThinkProgress
Donald J. Trump
On Monday morning   President Trump  claimed that the Obama administration launched an investigation into  his  campaign months before the 2016 election in hopes that it would prevent  him  winning.
âWhy did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the  Trump  Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win â  Trump  tweeted. âUnprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus  Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.â
Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the  Trump  Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus  Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5  2018
  Trumpâs  new talking point â that the Russia investigation was part of an effort to prevent  him  from winning the election â conflicts with  his  old one  which is that the notion  his  campaign was up to something nefarious with Russians was concocted by Democrats after the election as an excuse for Hillary Clintonâs defeat.
Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election.  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  May 11  2017
Again  the story that there was collusion between the Russians &  Trump  campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election.  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  May 12  2017
â¦Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps  Trump  just ran a great campaign?  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  May 3  2017
Thereâs also an easy answer to Trumpâs question about why the investigation started in July 2016. As the New York Times reported in December  the investigation began after one of the  Trump  campaignâs foreign policy advisers  George Papadopoulos  bragged to an Australian diplomat in May 2016 about his knowledge that Russia âhad political dirt on Hillary Clinton.â
While both the Clinton campaign and the  Trump  campaign were under investigation at different points that year  FBI officials only publicized the Clinton email investigation â and the FBIâs silence about the one into the  Trump  campaign arguably cost Clinton the election.  President Trump himself  cited the FBIâs harsh treatment of Clinton as a reason to fire then-FBI Director James Comey. Republicans who have been pushing the narrative of anti-Trump bias have had a hard time explaining the disconnect between history and their conspiracy theory.
While  Trump  blames Obama for not doing more  heâs done nothing to prevent foreign meddling in future elections. On February 27 â less than two weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 individuals and a trio of Russian companies for âinterference operations targeting the United Statesâ â NSA Director Mike Rogers told members of Congress that the  Trump  administration hasnât even authorized him to take measures to prevent election meddling going forward. On Sunday  the New York Times reported that âthe State Department has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow distrust in democracy.â
On Monday morning   President Trump  claimed that the Obama administration launched an investigation into  his  campaign months before the 2016 election in hopes that it would prevent  him  winning.
âWhy did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the  Trump  Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win â  Trump  tweeted. âUnprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus  Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.â
Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the  Trump  Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus  Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5  2018
  Trumpâs  new talking point â that the Russia investigation was part of an effort to prevent  him  from winning the election â conflicts with  his  old one  which is that the notion  his  campaign was up to something nefarious with Russians was concocted by Democrats after the election as an excuse for Hillary Clintonâs defeat.
Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election.  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  May 11  2017
Again  the story that there was collusion between the Russians &  Trump  campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election.  â  [TGT] May 12  2017
â¦ [TGT] /Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps   [TGT] just ran a great campaign?  â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  May 3  2017
Thereâs also an easy answer to Trumpâs question about why the investigation started in July 2016. As the New York Times reported in December  the investigation began after one of the   [TGT]   campaignâs foreign policy advisers  George Papadopoulos  bragged to an Australian diplomat in May 2016 about his knowledge that Russia âhad political dirt on Hillary Clinton.â
While both the Clinton campaign and the   [TGT]   campaign were under investigation at different points that year  FBI officials only publicized the Clinton email investigation â and the FBIâs silence about the one into the   [TGT]   campaign arguably cost Clinton the election.   [TGT] cited the FBIâs harsh treatment of Clinton as a reason to fire then-FBI Director James Comey. Republicans who have been pushing the narrative of anti-Trump bias have had a hard time explaining the disconnect between history and their conspiracy theory.
While   [TGT] blames Obama for not doing more  heâs done nothing to prevent foreign meddling in future elections. On February 27 â less than two weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 individuals and a trio of Russian companies for âinterference operations targeting the United Statesâ â NSA Director Mike Rogers told members of Congress that the   [TGT]   administration hasnât even authorized him to take measures to prevent election meddling going forward. On Sunday  the New York Times reported that âthe State Department has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow distrust in democracy.â