Donald Trump has increased his use of social media in recent days in an attempt to silence critics over a variety of issues. After the president targeted the FBI during his Sunday morning tweetstorm, the bureau decided to fire back.
FBI on Trump
Throughout the entire 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump and the Republican Party focused on the controversy surrounding Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State.
Trump focused on this issue for months, claiming Clinton was hiding information from the public that would be damaging to her campaign, while accusing her of putting the country's national security at risk. Clinton admitted to using the server, but multiple investigations concluded that nothing criminal took place. At the time, James Comey was the head of the FBI and ultimately made the final decision on Clinton's email server issue, which didn't go over well with the GOP. Over the weekend, the biggest story to dominate the headlines was the news that former National Security Adviser for Trump, Michael Flynn, lied to the FBI about his contact with Russia in the weeks following Election Day.
On Sunday, Trump lashed out at the FBI on Twitter, which resulted in a response from the bureau, as reported by The Hill on December 3.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, Donald Trump targeted James Comey and the FBI for not going hard enough on Hillary Clinton in regards to her email server. "After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History!" Trump tweeted.
Hours later, Thomas O'Connor, head of the FBI Agents Association, released a statement to push back at the remarks made by Donald Trump. O'Connor noted that the agents in the FBI "put their lives on the line to protect the American public from national security and criminal threats." The statement went on to defend the FBI agents, saying they do their job with "unwavering integrity and professionalism." In conclusion, O'Connors said that any other observation is "simply false."
Next up
In the aftermath of the Michael Flynn story, both sides of the political spectrum have used the news to their advantage.
After the original report from ABC News said that Flynn was instructed by Trump to speak to the Russians during the campaign, the news outlet was forced to issue a correction to note that the president's orders came after the election. Trump supporters have since accused "ABC News" of being "fake," as only time will tell how the current investigation into Russian election interference plays out next.