Trump claims a ‘spy’ on his campaign tried to help ‘Crooked Hillary’ win

President Trump claimed on Tuesday night that a “spy” was embedded in his presidential campaign as a means of aiding Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential race.

“If the person placed very early into my campaign wasn’t a SPY put there by the previous Administration for political purposes, how come such a seemingly massive amount of money was paid for services rendered – many times higher than normal,” he tweeted Tuesday night.

“Follow the money! The spy was there early in the campaign and yet never reported Collusion with Russia, because there was no Collusion. He was only there to spy for political reasons and to help Crooked Hillary win – just like they did to Bernie Sanders, who got duped!” 

…Follow the money! The spy was there early in the campaign and yet never reported Collusion with Russia, because there was no Collusion. He was only there to spy for political reasons and to help Crooked Hillary win – just like they did to Bernie Sanders, who got duped!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 22, 2018

Trump said earlier at the White House on Tuesday that it would be “illegal” and a “disgrace” if the FBI had spies embedded in his campaign. He has repeatedly alleged, without evidence, that the FBI sought to spy on his campaign for political reasons.

“A lot of people are saying they had spies in my campaign. If they had spies in my campaign, that would be a disgrace to this country,” Trump said. “It would be very illegal, aside from everything else.”

{mosads}“I hope they weren’t,” Trump added, because “that would be unprecedented in the history of our country.”

The comments follow the president’s demand this past weekend that the Department of Justice launch a probe into whether the FBI used improper surveillance to infiltrate his campaign during the 2016 election.

That tweet came after a New York Times report that an FBI informant had met with three of Trump’s campaign advisers to look into possible ties with Russia.

The Department of Justice, in turn, asked its inspector general to look into the claims. On Monday, the department agreed to expand an already existing probe into alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses to include the latest probe. 

The FBI and Justice Department are set to meet with lawmakers to review highly classified information related to the Russia investigation as a means of appeasing the president and his allies.