Trump renews charges of unfair Obama investigation ‘bigger than Watergate’

President Trump on Monday accused the Obama administration of conspiring to start an investigation into his campaign to help Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton win the presidency, pronouncing it “bigger than Watergate” in a Monday morning tweet.

The tweet was a continuation of Trump’s argument that the FBI under Obama was out to get him. 

Trump has repeatedly said his campaign did not collude with Russia, which intelligence officials believe meddled in the election with the goal of helping Trump and hurting Clinton.

“Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the Trump Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November?” Trump tweeted.

“Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus, Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling,” he continued.

Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the Trump Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus, Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2018

The tweets come weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller brought new charges against 13 Russian individuals and three Russian groups related to election meddling. 

{mosads}Former FBI Director James Comey testified last year that the bureau opened an investigation in July 2016 into whether Trump campaign associates were involved in Russian efforts to influence the presidential election.

The bureau had already publicly disclosed its investigation into Clinton, who as secretary of State used a private email server over which classified information had been sent. 

As part of the FBI investigation, the Justice Department monitored former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Those surveillance applications became the focal point of a GOP-crafted memo released earlier this year alleging political bias within the FBI. 

Trump has previously claimed the Obama administration “did nothing” to stop Russian election interference, particularly after Mueller filed charges against the Russian nationals and organizations for their role in the meddling. 

Obama issued sanctions against Russia for the meddling after U.S. intelligence officials said they had found evidence that the country had hacked U.S. groups and leaked emails in an effort to influence the 2016 vote. 

Some Democrats have acknowledged the Obama administration could have taken a more forceful stance to oppose Russian meddling. Ex-Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have said they did not want to take action that would make it appear they favored one candidate over the other.

Democrats have criticized Trump for declining to implement new sanctions against Russia that passed Congress last year by overwhelming, bipartisan margins.

A State Department spokesperson said earlier this year that the legislation allowing for the sanctions was already “serving as a deterrent” and there was no need to penalize Russia further at this time.