
President Trump slammed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Friday for not being able to control the leaks of classified information coming out of the agency since he became president.
“The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time,” Trump tweeted. “They can’t even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW.”
The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security “leakers” that have permeated our government for a long time. They can’t even……— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
Trump was likely responding to a CNN report that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus contacted the FBI to get the agency to tell reporters stories connecting Trump associates to Russian intelligence were not true.
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According to CNN, FBI Director James Comey refused that request because the investigation is ongoing. Critics have alleged this is an example of the White House interfering in an FBI investigation, an agency that is supposed to be independent of White House influence. Trump has been locked in a war of words with the intelligence community for months after reports began leaking that Russia ran an influence campaign on the 2016 election, and preferred him as a candidate to Hillary Clinton. He’s called them the “intelligence” community, using quotation marks used to show sarcasm. At the same time, many Democrats blame Comey for reports about Clinton’s private email server that they say sunk Clinton’s campaign. Details about that investigation leaked consistently during that campaign and Comey gave a long press conference about Clinton’s private email server months before Election Day.