President Trump made an extraordinary claim Friday morning when he tweeted that his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn should ask for immunity in the congressional investigation into Russia’s involvement in the U.S. election.
By calling the investigation a “witch hunt” and mentioning Democrats, Mr. Trump is attempting to “make the whole thing seem like political muddle, a Democratic plot,” Dickerson says.
FBI Director James Comey is leading one of the investigations, and many Democrats bitterly blame Comey for Mr. Trump’s victory. “He’s hardly a Democratic stooge,” Dickerson says.
Democrats, as well, have a problem with the investigations. Democrats say the House investigation is tainted because Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, appears to be cooperating with the White House.
There are two challenges for Nunes going forward, Dickerson says. First, there are questions that he is too close to the White House, a claim that Nunes could have a hard time refuting given that he says he went directly to the White House after he got that information. If Nunes’ serious claims that members of the Trump team were incidentally surveilled turn out to be true, that could overshadow any coziness allegations.