Short Says Trump Believes Americans ‘Have Right to Know’ Truth of Clinton Probe

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short defended President Donald Trump’s criticism of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe — saying “the American people have a right to know” how the bureau handled its investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system.

The president chided McCabe in a Sunday morning tweet, questioning the FBI deputy director’s impartiality while investigating Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential rival and her use of a private email server for official business.

When host Chris Wallace asked Short if Trump’s critical tweet about the FBI official was “helpful,” Short argued the president spoke for the American people by voicing their concerns about the government’s integrity.

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“I think the president believes that the American people have a right to know what happened with that investigation,” Short told Wallace. “So the president is saying we need to have — we need to know that our civil servants are doing the honorable thing. And it’s important the American people know what happened in that investigation.”

Trump pointed to a Fox News report when he tweeted on Sunday: “.@FoxNews — FBI’s Andrew McCabe, ‘in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.'”

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The president also took aim at McCabe in a Saturday tweet: “How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?”

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Short argued that Trump was justified in criticizing McCabe, noting that Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe — “perhaps the Clintons’ closest political friend” — made “a $700,000 contribution to McCabe’s wife when she was running for office at the same time that they were launching an investigation into the former chief U.S. diplomat … The American people have the right to know that,” Short said.

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The White House legislative director noted Trump is “very pleased” with new FBI Director Christopher Wray and the direction in which he is taking the FBI.

“[Trump] is very pleased with the changes that are taking place,” Short said. “But at the same time, we put all of our faith and confidence in the Department of Justice and the FBI, knowing that there should be no bias there. He’s making a point that we need to make sure there’s no bias.”

PoliZette writer Kathryn Blackhurst can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter here.