Spying, treason and politics: Trump ups the stakes in Russia probe battle despite scant evidence

[DonViejo]

Spying, treason and politics: President Trump ups the stakes in Russia probe battle despite scant evidence

Kristine Phillips and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY Published 6:00 a.m. ET June 1, 2019 | Updated 8:17 a.m. ET June 1, 2019

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is significantly raising the stakes in his public battle with the law enforcement and intelligence agencies that spent two years investigating him and his campaign.

In the past two weeks alone, Trump has charged that federal investigators “conclusively spied” on his campaign, accused perceived political enemies of treason, and signaled that he will make these allegations a major talking point in his reelection bid. Then he gave his attorney general broad power to probe – and reveal – intelligence secrets as part of a new review into how the federal investigation on Trump and his campaign began.

The flurry of accusations has produced a lot of noise – at times in the form of “lock them up” chants at Trump’s campaign rallies – but scant evidence of wrongdoing.

Attorney General William Barr told lawmakers two months ago that he was conducting his own examination of whether the government improperly “spied” on Trump’s campaign, at least the third examination by the department of its conduct around the 2016 election. So far, Barr has not said he has found misconduct, but in an interview with CBS News, he said the investigation of Trump's campaign crossed “a serious red line” and he wants to know how and why the FBI conducted its work.

more
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/01/spying-treason-and-politics-trump-raises-stakes-russia-investigation/3769752002/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomwashington-topstories