Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.
After a much-hyped meeting between lawmakers and the Justice Department to discuss aspects of the investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that the briefing only confirmed for him that there is “no evidence” to support the president’s conspiratorial claim that the previous administration “spied” on him.
“Clapper has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign,” Trump falsely tweeted Thursday morning. “Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal. Starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. SPYGATE – a terrible thing!”
“Nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the FBI, or any intelligence agency, placed a spy in the Trump campaign or otherwise failed to follow appropriate procedures,” Schiff said after the meeting.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), a Trump ally who pushed for the briefing and has promoted the president’s conspiracy theories, did not release a statement and would not answer questions after the meeting.
In addition to contradicting the president’s unfounded claims about a spy, Schiff slammed the fact that White House lawyer Emmet Flood attended the beginning of the meeting.
“Emmet Flood’s presence and statement at the outset of both meetings today was completely inappropriate,” Schiff said. The attorney’s “presence only underscores what Rudy Giuliani said: the president’s legal team expects to use information gleaned improperly from the Justice Department or the President’s allies in Congress to their legal advantage.”
Watch the clip below:
Rep. Schiff, speaking for Democratic leaders said after the briefings, “Nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the FBI or any intelligence agency placed a spy in the Trump campaign” https://t.co/3QTZP14Pnl pic.twitter.com/s3iWUaDbLm
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) May 24, 2018
