2016 ELECTION/FBI/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump renewed his complaints Monday [7-23-18] about the Russia investigation overseen by special counsel Robert Mueller, and came even closer to instructing law enforcement officials to shut it down. Trump began his venting by writing online that the probe was triggered by a now-infamous dossier of salacious but unverified information detailing ties between Russia and the president’s campaign. The president’s tweet comes on the heels of the FBI’s release of documents related to the wiretapping of Carter Page, a former aide to the Trump campaign who plays a central role in the allegations of collusion between the Russian government and the president’s 2016 election team. Contrary to Trump’s Monday morning tweet, the newly declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court wiretap application shows that investigators did not base their request solely on the infamous dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and funded in part by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, but also on other sources of information. The documents also show that investigators did inform FISA court judges of the sources of their information, countering a claim made by many supporters of the president.”
–Louis Nelson, “Trump makes new call to end the Mueller probe,” Politico, July 23, 2018 8:04 am