Donald Trump accuses FBI and Justice Department of favouring Democrats over Republicans
US President plans to publicly release controversial memo which alleges surveillance abuses by FBI officials investigating former Trump campaign official
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has accused senior leadership at the department investigating potential links between his presidential campaign and Russia of developing a bias against the Republican Party.
"The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago," he wrote on Twitter. "Rank & File are great people!"
The US President then sent a follow-up tweet - quoting American conservative activist Tom Fitton - which alleged the Democrats attempted to conceal their funding of a dossier that accused Mr Trump of personal ties to the Kremlin.
"You had Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party try to hide the fact that they gave money to GPS Fusion to create a Dossier which was used by their allies in the Obama Administration to convince a Court misleadingly, by all accounts, to spy on the Trump Team,” it read.
The 71-year-old's comments come despite the fact many FBI and Justice Department officials at the forefront of investigations into alleged collusion are Republicans.
James Comey, the former FBI director fired by Mr Trump; Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election campaign; Jeff Sessions, head of the Justice Department; and Rod Rosenstein, Mr Sessions' deputy, are all or have been, registered Republicans.
On Friday, Mr Trump is set to approve the release of a Republican-authored memo which reportedly alleges surveillance abuses by FBI officials investigating Carter Page, a former Trump campaign official.
A White House official said the decision was made after examining the memo over the last few days and making sure “it doesn’t give away too much in terms of classification.”
The planned release comes despite objections from the Justice Department and the FBI, whose director, Chrisopher Wray, admitted to "grave concerns" about the accuracy of the classified document.
Several national security officials have reportedly warned the White House that releasing the document could jeopardize how sensitive intelligence is collected.
But Devin Nunes, the Republican senator whose office drafted the secret memo, accused the FBI and Justice Department of "spurious objections" to its release.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments