Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Samuel Osborne

Donald Trump accuses US intelligence agencies of illegally giving information to press

Donald Trump has accused US intelligence agencies of illegally giving information to the media over his team's alleged contact with Russian officials. 

The US president also accused the "fake news media" of going "crazy" with "conspiracy theories and blind hatred".

He went on to call the unconfirmed allegations about his campaign team's links to Russia were an attempt to cover up "the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign".

"Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia [sic]," Mr Trump tweeted.

His tweet appears to question whether the NSA and FBI are involved in the leaks.

He also went on to say to call intelligence agencies "very un-American!" and alleged they were giving out illegally giving out classified information "like candy".

Mr Trump previously attacked "illegal leaks coming out of Washington" after his national security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign. 

The New York Times published the allegations that American law enforcement and intelligence agencies found "repeated contacts" between Mr Trump's campaign staff and associates and senior Russian intelligence operatives in the year leading up to the US election.

The communications were reportedly intercepted at the same time evidence of Russian involvement in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack was discovered, although officials said they found no evidence of the Trump team “colluding” with Russia on efforts to influence the result.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.