US President Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on the FBI, claiming it has been giving classified information to media that could have a "devastating effect" on the US. It comes hours after reports emerged that the White House had asked the agency to publicly deny there were links between the President's administration and Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia.
The president said on Twitter: "The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. "Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on US FIND NOW."
Trump has previously attacked the intelligence services over a slew of links that have appeared in the media, claiming links between the New York tycoon and members of his team, and Russia. No evidence has been provided of any such links and Trump has continued to deny the assertions.
The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017
Yet, the issue still clearly irks him. His outburst on Friday morning came after CNN reported that the FBI had rejected a recent approach from the White House to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Trump’s associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.
A White House official said that the request was only made after the FBI indicated to the White House it did not believe the reporting to be accurate.
White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said.
The reports of the contacts were first published by the New York Times and CNN on February 14. The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told the news channel: “We didn't try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth.”
