'If this is true, does not get much bigger': Trump blasts the media and Russia investigation
Trump attacked Todd for his assessment Saturday morning and fell back on his preferred name for the media, calling it "fake news."
President Donald Trump
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"When will Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd and @NBCNews start talking about the Obama SURVEILLANCE SCANDAL and stop with the Fake Trump/Russia story?" Trump tweeted in the morning.
The president was likely referring to the previous day's episode of "Meet The Press," during which Todd had former White House press secretary Josh Earnest on the show to talk about the Russia investigation. Later on Friday, Todd also had an appearance on NBC's "Nightly News," where he commented on the investigation and said that Trump's baseless claim that he had been wiretapped by former president Barack Obama were the root of this administration's problems.
"I think the biggest problem here is you have the president not wanting to accept the conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election and that there is going to be an investigation in this, whether he likes it or not," Todd said on "Nightly News."
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He continued: "The source of all of the current problems for this West Wing right now, for this presidency right now, all stems from that tweet where the president accused President Obama of wiretapping him."
Todd noted that the issues the Trump administration is facing are all "self-inflicted," adding that, "The Russia cloud is dark enough. This sort of Nunes Keystone Cop situation has made it that much worse. And again, it all stems from the fact that the president himself will not accept the idea that there is going to be a Russian investigation."
Trump attacked Todd for his assessment Saturday morning and fell back on his preferred name for the media, calling it "fake news."
"It is the same Fake News Media that said there is 'no path to victory for Trump' that is now pushing the phony Russia story. A total scam!" Trump tweeted.
He railed against the Russia investigation in another pair of tweets posted hours after the first, in which he decried the "unmasking," or revealing, of the names of Trump associates who may have had their communications swept up by US intelligence officials.
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"Wow, @FoxNews just reporting big news. Source: 'Official behind unmasking is high up. Known Intel official is responsible. Some unmasked ... not associated with Russia. Trump team spied on before he was nominated.' If this is true, does not get much bigger. Would be sad for U.S." Trump tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
The president's tweets reflect his administration's view that the focus of the investigation into Russia should be on who was responsible for unmasking the names of Trump associates, rather than any connections between the campaign and a foreign power that interfered in the election.
The investigation into Trump associates' potential ties to Russia has grown increasingly controversial in recent days, as it emerged that the classified information House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said showed Trump associates had their communications "incidentally collected" was given to him by three White House officials. Moreover, reports surfaced that national security adviser H.R. McMaster tried to fire one of those officials, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, earlier in March, but Trump intervened to save Cohen-Watnick's job.
Adding another layer to the Russia investigation, former national security adviser Michael Flynn offered to testify about the Trump campaign's ties to Russia in exchange for immunity on Thursday. Flynn resigned from his position in February, following reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his phone conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, during Trump's transition to the Oval Office.
Flynn's request for immunity drew widespread attention, in part because he said in Septemberthat "when you are given immunity, that means you have probably committed a crime."
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