Embracing conspiracy theory, Trump escalates attack on Bruce Ohr

Departing the White House for a fundraiser, the president told reporters that Ohr was “a disgrace” and said incorrectly that Ohr played a part in starting the investigation into Russian election interference and possible links to Trump associates.

“I suspect I’ll be taking it away very quickly,” Trump said of Ohr’s security clearance, which gives government officials access to classified and sensitive information. Trump then shifted his attack, saying Ohr’s actions were “disqualifying for Mueller” and adding that Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the Russia inquiry, has “a lot of conflicts.”

Trump began this week to use his power to void security clearances to punish perceived adversaries in the Russia investigation. His revocation of the clearance of John O. Brennan, a former CIA director who has emerged as an outspoken critic of Trump, drew condemnation from former national security officials.

But by targeting Ohr, the president moved beyond his bitter clash with high-profile antagonists like Brennan and reached deep into the bureaucracy. Trump also forced a difficult choice on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general: accept the actions of the president or defend a public employee’s right to the normal process of appeals.

Ohr has been targeted by conservative allies of Trump who have seized on the fact that Ohr was at the department at the same time that his wife, Nellie, was a contractor for Fusion GPS, a research firm that participated in compiling a dossier of damaging information about Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

No evidence has emerged showing that Ohr or his wife played a role in starting the FBI’s Russia investigation. Rather, it was contacts between a former Trump foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, and Russian intermediaries that prompted the bureau to open the inquiry in late July 2016.

But Trump has embraced the theory, casting Ohr and his wife as central players in what he calls the “rigged witch hunt” and accusing the couple of having what he claims are indirect contacts with Russians — apparently a reference to former British spy Christopher Steele’s research.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Embracing conspiracy theory, Trump escalates attack on Bruce Ohr

Departing the White House for a fundraiser, the president told reporters that Ohr was “a disgrace” and said incorrectly that Ohr played a part in starting the investigation into Russian election interference and possible links to Trump associates.

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