What did Donald Trump do today?
He pretended to think the DOJ Inspector General's report said what he wanted it to say.
The Department of Justice released a report today by its Inspector General examining the FBI's decision to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign after evidence of its ties with Russia came to light.
In short, the report completely validates the FBI's investigation, and found absolutely no political bias against Trump. In fact, the IG notes that several of the agents involved were strong Trump supporters who were thrilled by his election—but who carried out their duties professionally all the same. (Trump, who may actually believe some of the paranoid "deep state" conspiracy theories he promotes, has been saying otherwise since before he was elected.)
The IG found procedural errors in the process by which Trump's foreign policy advisor and known Russian intelligence target Carter Page was surveilled, but once again the report stated that the agents involved were not motivated by any bias.
It's not clear if Trump, who had already hyped the report yesterday, was told what it actually contained. White House staff have been known to keep information from Trump to help him stay on message. Regardless, he declared that the report described an "attempted overthrow" of the American government.
Why should I be concerned about this?
- Past a certain point, lies get so big that they're really just insults to the people you tell them to.
- Presidents are not above the law.