Trump urges attorney general to craft 'Obamagate' report to damage Biden before election
Ignoring critiques that he has eradicated norms by weighing in on Justice Department matters, Donald Trump on Thursday leaned on Attorney General William Barr to condemn top Obama administration officials for what a friendly interviewer dubbed a "coup" attempt.
"Bill Barr has a chance to be the greatest of all time. But if he wants to be politically correct, he'll be just another guy," the president told Fox Business during a morning interview during which host Maria Bartiromo accused top Obama-era officials of trying to overthrow Mr Trump before he even took office.
With that comment, because the president contends his general election foe, former Vice President Joe Biden, "knew" about an effort in 2016 to, as he puts it, "spy on my campaign," the sitting president appeared to be pressuring his hand-picked AG to publish a report that could damage his top political rival.
The House late last year impeached Mr Trump for abusing his power when he asked Ukraine's president to announce he would launch an investigation into Mr Biden and son Hunter Biden over the latter's business dealings there while his father was leading an Obama administration anti-corruption push there.
Ms Bartiromo at one point during a wild and wide-ranging interview listed off a number of things the president has done since taking office, which she called major accomplishments. Then she declared this: "There was still a coup against you, Mr President."
That prompted the president to say of Mr Barr and John Durham, US attorney for the District of Connecticut, should conclude an investigation into the Obama administration in a manner that paints Mr Biden and others as, in his words, "guilty as hell."
"I hope they're not going to be politically correct," Mr Trump said. "Everybody else knew everything, and you know it."
He has said previously that includes the then-VP, Mr Biden.
"They're all guilty as hell," the president roared, clearly agitated.
But he did not stop there, also suggested he might fire FBI Director Christopher Wray after the election unless he turns over documents team Trump contends will be damning for Mr Biden and others.
"We have an election coming up. ... I wish he was more forthcoming," Mr Trump said, claiming that someone in his administration or an outside adviser hand-picked Mr Wray.
"He was chosen by a certain person. I'm so honest, I said, 'You can put whoever you want,'" the president said without naming names. "He's either going to turn out one way or another."
Mr Trump's morning accusations were his latest attempt to revive his "Obamagate" conspiracy theory.
That theory maintains that the 44th president and his top intelligence chiefs sought to entrap incoming Trump officials in legal controversies to kneecap Mr Trump's presidency from the start.
Some aspects of the president's theory have yet to be corroborated, but he and his top aides and surrogates are pushing the narratives by asking questions about the motives of a number of individuals who were senior members of the Obama administration's national security, intelligence and foreign policy team.
Mr Trump and his senior aides, however, have pointed to only one potential crime that anyone in the Obama administration might have committed: the leaking of Mr Flynn's name to journalists, which White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in late May contended violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
Mr Biden and other senior Obama administration officials have denied any wrongdoing.
"We are in a battle for the soul of this nation," the presumptive Democratic nominee tweeted a couple hours after Mr Trump's interview. "And if we're going to get through these crises -- we need to come together and unite for a better America."
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