Donald Trump Wants To Weaponize Justice Department Against Hillary Clinton Yet Again
President Donald Trump kicked off his Friday by ranting about Democrats on Twitter and calling, once again, on the Justice Department to investigate his former presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
In a flurry of tweets insulting several prominent Democrats, Trump claimed, citing no evidence, that “everybody” is questioning why the FBI and Justice Department haven’t yet looked into “dishonesty going on” with Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.
Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
Trump attempted to bolster his argument by mentioning former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile’s recent accusations that Clinton had gained control of the committee during the 2016 election well before becoming the party’s nominee.
...New Donna B book says she paid for and stole the Dem Primary. What about the deleted E-mails, Uranium, Podesta, the Server, plus, plus...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
....People are angry. At some point the Justice Department, and the FBI, must do what is right and proper. The American public deserves it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
The real story on Collusion is in Donna B's new book. Crooked Hillary bought the DNC & then stole the Democratic Primary from Crazy Bernie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
Brazile wasn’t having it, tweeting that Trump was misquoting her.
Today’s lesson: Being quoted by Donald Trump means being MIS-quoted by Donald Trump. Stop trolling me. #NeverSaidHillaryRiggedElection
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 3, 2017
Mr President, please—go back to attacking me. It’s better than having my own words scrambled and spewed out by you.
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 3, 2017
Thank you Mr President (a few others trollers), for translating my new book into Trumpspeak. #NotWhatISaid. Watch @ThisWeekABC for my views.
— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) November 3, 2017
Trump also managed to simultaneously cite and insult Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who said on Thursday that she believed the Democratic nomination had been rigged, by once again referring to her as “Pocahontas.”
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets go FBI & Justice Dept.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
Warren quickly responded in a series of tweets.
You might think your tweets are cute, @realDonaldTrump, but they won’t stop Mueller's investigation or keep your people out of jail.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) November 3, 2017
The DNC shouldn't play favorites. But that's a whole lot different from illegally conspiring with Russia. The FBI knows the difference.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) November 3, 2017
Slurs, lies & trash talk won’t stop the FBI from doing its job. This isn't a dictatorship. It's our democracy. And it's stronger than you.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) November 3, 2017
Hours after dubbing Sanders “Crazy Bernie,” Trump also attempted to appeal to Sanders supporters by tweeting that they had “every right to be apoplectic” over what he called “the complete theft of the Dem primary.”
Bernie Sanders supporters have every right to be apoplectic of the complete theft of the Dem primary by Crooked Hillary!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
I always felt I would be running and winning against Bernie Sanders, not Crooked H, without cheating, I was right.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
The rigged Dem Primary, one of the biggest political stories in years, got ZERO coverage on Fake News Network TV last night. Disgraceful!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
Sanders responded by telling Trump to do his job.
We won't be distracted from your efforts to give billionaires tax cuts, take health care from millions and deny climate change. Do your job. https://t.co/35eWaiMuYt
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 3, 2017
Throughout his presidency, Trump has repeatedly blurred the traditional lines between the Justice Department and the White House. Past presidents typically avoided speaking out about ongoing criminal cases, and it would have been a major scandal if one of them had suggested that the Justice Department investigate a political opponent. Trump just tweets it out.
Trump has also undermined his own attorney general and deputy attorney general, both of whom he has blamed for the special counsel investigation into his campaign’s possible links to Russian interference with the 2016 election.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
