White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday that President Trump “obviously” doesn’t believe the entire Justice Department is part of a subversive “deep state.”
Sanders made the remark at the daily White House press briefing after being asked about a morning tweet in which Trump suggested a double standard benefited Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin.
“Does he believe the entire Justice Department and its more than 100,000 employees are part of this deep state?” a reporter asked Sanders.
“Obviously he doesn’t believe the entire Justice Department is part of that," Sanders responded, adding: "You know, one of the things the president has done is appoint Christopher Wray at the FBI because he wants to change the culture of that agency.”
In his morning tweet, Trump referenced Huma Abedin, the Clinton aide who whose State Department work emails, found on husband Anthony Weiner’s laptop, were partially released last week.
Trump tweeted: “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others.”
The sailor Trump referenced, Kristian Saucier, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that he struggled to find work after being released from prison in September. As a convicted felon, he found work as a garbage man. Saucier’s home is in foreclosure and he has a payment plan for his electricity bill.
Trump’s remarks about the Justice Department come after he harshly criticized FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, whose wife ran for office as a Democrat in Virginia, suggesting on Twitter that McCabe is waiting for later this year to retire to receive full benefits.
Last month, Trump suggested the FBI’s reputation was “in tatters” in the wake of revelations that FBI official Peter Strzok, a former investigator on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, traded anti-Trump text messages with an alleged mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page, who also formerly worked on the probe into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Many congressional Democrats apologized to Wray at a hearing, suggesting that Trump was attacking all members of the FBI workforce.
