“Spygate” is really “Lie-gate” in the words of California congressman Adam Schiff. As you know, Trump said that James Clapper told Joy Behar that someone in the FBI was spying on his campaign, when the fact of the matter is that he said exactly the opposite. New York Times:
Joy Behar: “So I ask you, was the F.B.I. spying on Trump’s campaign?”
Mr. Clapper: “No, they were not. They were spying on, a term I don’t particularly like, but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage or influence, which is what they do.”
Ms. Behar: “Well, why doesn’t he like that? He should be happy.”
Mr. Clapper: “He should be. I mean, Russia — it’s one of the reasons I wrote my book, was the threat Russia poses because they are bent on undermining our system. And that’s what they did, and had a lot of success during the course of the election.”
When Clapper said “spy” he meant it to describe intelligence gathering efforts on Russia influencing the 2016 election, which is business as usual. So, also per usual, Trump is a liar.
Here’s what Congressman Schiff had to say.
False statements about wiretaps at Trump Tower.
False statements about unmasking.
False statesments about a political spy in the Trump campaign.
False statements about the Mueller investigation that has indicted the President’s top staff.
It’s not spy-gate, only lie-gate.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 24, 2018
As The New York Times has reported, “F.B.I. agents sent an informant to talk to two campaign advisers only after they received evidence that the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign.”
So it was all business as usual and Trump is full of it. Clearly, there’s nothing new to see here, just another day.
