Hogan Gidley, the deputy press secretary for the White House, told the “Todd Starnes Radio Show” Thursday that the fallout from the Micheal Flynn case, the newly released transcripts from the Russia investigation and the Obama-era “unmasking” all adds up to what was a “bloodless coup” attempt to remove President Trump from office.
Trump has long maintained that the Democrat effort to smear him in the Robert Mueller investigation was simply an attempt to ruin his presidency. Despite his acquittal during the Senate impeachment trial, the bad taste from the Russian collusion investigation lingered.
BILL O’REILLY ON FLYNN FALLOUT
But now it appears the White House is going on the offensive and taking names.
“The swamp is being drained and you’re watching it in real-time, and I’ve got to tell you, the swamp creatures are nervous, they’re quite concerned and they should be,” Gidley said.
FOLLOW TODD STARNES ON TWITTER
The Justice Department dropped the charges against Flynn, which started the snowball. One of Flynn’s lawyers said then-President Obama was in on a January 2017 meeting where Flynn was discussed and played an active role in the “set up.” Trump seized on the allegation and dubbed the new scandal “Obamagate.”
Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grennell then cleared the path for Congress to release the Obama-era names who requested the “unmasking” at the end of his presidency, which led to additional fallout and Trump to call on Sen. Lindsey Graham to haul Obama in to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew everything. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!”
Gidley told the radio show that the White House was surprised by the recent revelations, but also expected that the “Deep State” was at work.
“Think about what would have happened if Donald Trump didn’t win this election, what we wouldn’t know about the Deep State,” he said. He said it was remarkable that a political opponent would “weaponize functions of government against an American citizen, not to mention a general in Mr. Flynn and others, I mean, this is just one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen.”