"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time," Trump said. "They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW." The social media posts from Trump, a voracious consumer of cable news, came as CNN was airing a story on how the FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly deny news reports about alleged communications between Trump associates and potential Russian spies during the 2016 presidential campaign.
CNN's report was based on "multiple unnamed US officials briefed on the matter." A White House official told CNN the request to the FBI came only after the agency indicated the news reports were not accurate. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign to tips the result in Trump's favour.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017