What Is 'Spygate' And Why Does Trump Keep Tweeting About It?
On Sunday, President Trump launched an investigation with a tweet, demanding that the Department of Justice look into the possibility that the Trump campaign was "infiltrated or surveilled" under the Obama Administration:
The order, which was followed up by an announcement from the Justice Department on Monday that its inspector general was investigating whether the use of a confidential source in the Russia investigation raised any political red flags, came after Trump's claim on Saturday that "the FBI or DOJ" was "infiltrating a campaign for the benefit of another campaign."
On Friday, Trump made a similar tweet alleging that "at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign[.]"
President Trump has continued to make statements about the theory. Wednesday morning, he used the theory in an attempt to undermine the Mueller investigation.
The strange allegations are tantalizing, but what does the context and evidence say?
The Rumors And The Evidence
The claim that there was an insider source in Trump's 2016 campaign goes back to January. On January 2, the founders of Fusion GPS — the firm that hired Christopher Steele to assemble a dossier on Trump's Russia connections — published an op-ed in The New York Times claiming that the FBI had someone "inside the Trump camp" that was providing them intelligence during the election. Steele and the Fusion GPS founders reiterated this assertion in Senate testimony.
It wasn't until May, when Wall Street Journal reporter Kimberley Strassel published an op-ed repeating the same information Steele gave in his Senate testimony and suggesting that the FBI may have paid someone in the Trump campaign to provide them information, that ignited speculation in conservative media.
From there, Conservative pundits spread the theory.
Last Monday, Rush Limbaugh, claimed that "I now know who the spy is… Papadopoulos was entrapped by three people, including the person who is reputed to be the spy." He went on to allege that the "spy" fed George Papadopoulos the idea that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton, which he would later recount to the Australian ambassador, according to The New York Times, and trigger the larger Russian investigation.
On Tuesday, "Fox & Friends" hosts asked, "was there a spy?" in multiple segments responding to the Journal op-ed.
Thursday, the day before Trump's first tweet on the issue, Sean Hannity and James Levin devoted lengthy segments to the theory on Fox News, comparing Obama officials to administrations of the former Soviet Union.
On Friday, the day of Trump's first tweet, The New York Times reported that there was, in fact, an FBI informant in touch with members of the Trump campaign, although not embedded as was described throughout Conservative media. The "American academic who teaches in Britain" reportedly made contact with George Papadopoulos and Carter Page after the FBI acquired evidence suggesting that the two had suspicious Russian connections.
The Times reported a somewhat similar story to Limbaugh's, writing that the academic contacted Papadopoulos about an academic paper, and pressed him over drinks about Russia's intent to interfere with the election. The tales diverge in that The Times reports that there is no existing evidence to suggest that the informant acted improperly or that the investigation was politically motivated.
The alleged informant has previously served in Republican administrations including those of Nixon, Ford and Reagan.
Convenient Timing
While the idea of a Trump campaign FBI source isn't exactly new, the theories surrounding it have accelerated at a convenient time for the Trump camp.
Last Thursday marked the anniversary for the Mueller probe, which has continued to sweep up former Trump campaign members and associates but has so far failed to produce firm evidence of wrongdoing by Trump himself. Over time, Mueller's investigation has moved increasingly deeper into Trump's orbit.
Last week release of Senate testimony on the Trump Tower meeting between a Kremlin-connected attorney, Donald Trump Jr., Erik Prince and other Trump associates suggested that Prince perjured himself and President Trump may have had a hand in crafting a misleading response to questions about the meeting.
As the investigations continue, the Trump camp has become more defensive, hiring Rudy Giuliani who was recently revealed to have made up the assertion that Mueller's probe would end by September 1.
According to The New York Times report on the FBI informant, Democrats say that Republicans are attempting to create widespread skepticism about the Mueller probe by pushing the spy theory.
Regardless of how involved the FBI investigation into Trump's campaign was during the 2016 election was, the Trump Administration's complaints about the probe contain a glaring double standard. Not only was the investigation into Hillary Clinton publicized by the FBI during the campaign, but she also lost the election, at least partly due to that fact.
Possibly more glaring is the attempt to hinge the investigation on the fact that it occurred under President Obama's leadership. The investigation into Hillary Clinton also proceeded under him.
