President Trump attacked the late Sen. John McCain in a salvo of tweets Sunday morning, reacting to court documents released last week about the so-called Trump dossier that contains unverified claims about his ties to Russia and the Arizona Republican’s role in spreading it.
“Report: Christopher Steele backed up his Democrat & Crooked Hillary paid for Fake & Unverified Dossier with information he got from ‘send in watchers’ of low ratings CNN. This is the info that got us the Witch Hunt!” Trump tweeted, naming the author of the dossier, British ex-spy Christopher Steele.
[Related: George Conway after Trump’s tweet storm: ‘His condition is getting worse’]
Report: Christopher Steele backed up his Democrat & Crooked Hillary paid for Fake & Unverified Dossier with information he got from “send in watchers” of low ratings CNN. This is the info that got us the Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
“So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) ‘last in his class’ (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!” he added.
So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) “last in his class” (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
According to deposition transcripts released last week, Steele said last year he used a 2009 report he found on CNN’s iReport website for part of his dossier and said he wasn’t aware that submissions to that site are posted by members of the public and are not checked for accuracy.
In another deposition, David Kramer, a longtime associate of the late McCain, recalled how he gave the dossier to more than a dozen journalists. He also said he informed McCain of the dossier following the election, after which the senator brought it to the FBI’s attention. The dossier was published on Jan. 10, 2017, by BuzzFeed, one of the media organizations Kramer gave the series of memos. Kramer claimed he told media outlets not to publish the research until it was verified.
Although Trump resurrected his “last in his class” jab at McCain, who died last year due to brain cancer, the senator graduated near, not at, the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy.
During the 2016 campaign, during which the then-candidate attacked McCain for his military service record, Trump employed a similar attack. “@SenJohnMcCain should be defeated in the primaries. Graduated last in his class at Annapolis–dummy!” Trump tweeted in July 2015.
.@SenJohnMcCain should be defeated in the primaries. Graduated last in his class at Annapolis–dummy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2015
Trump also went after McCain on Saturday in a tweet that referenced the senator’s role in killing an Obamacare repeal effort and the dossier.
“Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier ‘is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain.’ Ken Starr, Former Independent Counsel. He had far worse ‘stains’ than this, including thumbs down on repeal and replace after years of campaigning to repeal and replace!” he said.
Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier “is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain.” Ken Starr, Former Independent Counsel. He had far worse “stains” than this, including thumbs down on repeal and replace after years of campaigning to repeal and replace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2019
In his book last year, The Restless Wave, McCain defended his role in giving a copy of the dossier to former FBI Director James Comey.
“I reviewed its contents. The allegations were disturbing, but I had no idea which if any were true. I could not independently verify any of it, and so I did what any American who cares about our nation’s security should have done,” McCain wrote.
