President Donald Trump on Thursday said Russia’s interference in the 2016 election is a “hoax” and a “scam” pushed by the Democrats.
Trump’s latest tweetstorm puts the president of the United States at odds with the United States intelligence community as well as both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who adamantly agree that Russia attempted to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
The Russian scheme, which U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was wide-spread and intense, was meant to distort information in order to hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and, therefore, help her challenger, now-President Donald Trump.
In Thursday morning’s Twitter rant, Trump first continued his trend of viewing every testimony by intelligence officials as evidence of his vindication amid the growing probes into whether Russia not only interfered in the election but also had ties with members of his campaign team.
“Former Homeland Security Advisor Jeh Johnson is latest top intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between Trump & Russia,” Trump tweeted.
On Wednesday, Johnson said it was “plain and simple” that Russia, at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, orchestrated cyberattacks in the United States in order to influence the election.
Former Homeland Security Advisor Jeh Johnson is latest top intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between Trump & Russia.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
Trump then followed up the Johnson tweet by asking why the Obama administration didn’t “stop” Russia’s hacking.
“By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn’t they stop them?” the president tweeted, shortly following with “…Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It’s all a big Dem HOAX!”
Johnson also testified on Wednesday that the Democratic National Committee “did not feel it needed” help from the Department of Homeland Security in identifying the hackers who stole thousands of committee emails.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who chaired the DNC before resigning last July following WikiLeaks publication of the DNC emails, said in a statement on Wednesday that, had the Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted her, she “would have gladly welcomed their help.”
Trump further questioned the DNC opting to have a private cybersecurity firm to provide an analysis of its servers to the FBI rather than have the law enforcement agency duplicate the process.
By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn’t they stop them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
…Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election). It’s all a big Dem HOAX!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
…Why did the DNC REFUSE to turn over its Server to the FBI, and still hasn’t? It’s all a big Dem scam and excuse for losing the election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
Trump has repeatedly questioned the validity of the notion Russia interfered with the 2016 election, despite numerous members of the intelligence committee testifying the opposite. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer could not answer whether Trump believes Russia interfered in the U.S. election.
All of his assertions that nothing helped him win the election come amid the growing probe headed by special counsel Robert Mueller into whether Trump’s associates colluded with Russia’s misinformation campaign and whether he obstructed justice in his interactions with former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired early last month.
