WASHINGTON: The US Department of Justice will investigate whether FBI agents spied on President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign for “inappropriate purposes”.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said he wanted to know whether his predecessor’s administration ordered such a move. The call comes after US media reports suggesting the FBI had an informant meeting campaign aides.
US Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein said action would be taken if any infiltration was found. “If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action,” Mr Rosenstein said in a statement.
There is already an investigation into all aspects relating to Mr Trump’s campaign for the 2016 election and whether Russia tried to influence the outcome.
Mr Trump’s latest demand came amid a series of tweets on Sunday denouncing a “witch hunt” that, he said, had found no collusion by his campaign with Russia. He first made the accusation that the FBI had sent a spy into his campaign team on Friday.
“It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a ‘hot’ Fake News story,” Mr Trump tweeted, adding: “If true – all time biggest political scandal!”
The New York Times followed with an article that suggested there was, indeed, an FBI informant – whose identity it did not reveal – who had been sent to speak to campaign aides but only after the FBI had received reports of “suspicious contacts linked to Russia”.
The informant – an American academic working in the UK – had made contact with George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.
The Washington Post reported a similar account.
