President Donald Trump has responded to criticism over remarks he made during an interview where he said he would accept information about political opponents if offered by a foreign government.
“I think maybe you do both,” Trump replied. “I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, ‘we have information on your opponent‘—oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”
Stephanopoulos then asked, “You want that kind of interference in our elections?” Trump replied, “It’s not an interference, they have information—I think I'd take it.”
“If I thought there was something wrong, I‘d go maybe to the FBI—if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, ’Oh, let’s call the FBI...' The FBI doesn’t have enough agents to take care of it,” Trump explained.
He added, “But you go and talk honestly to congressmen, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research.”
Trump’s frank response to Stephanopoulos’s question drew criticism from many prominent Democrats.
Trump posted a series of tweets in response to the criticism on June 13.
“I meet and talk to “foreign governments” every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Wales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about “Everything!” Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings?” he wrote.
“How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again. With that being said, my full answer is rarely played by the Fake News Media. They purposely leave out the part that matters,” he added.
He then gave instances of when Democratic congressmen have used opposition research provided by foreigners against him without immediately contacting the FBI.
“The fact is that the phony Witch Hunt is a giant scam where Democrats and other really bad people, SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN! They even had an “insurance policy” just in case Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats lost their race for the Presidency! This is the biggest & worst political scandal in the history of the United States of America. Sad!” Trump said.
The Justice Department is currently investigating the origins of the 2016 counterintelligence probe into Trump campaign as well as the FBI’s use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page.