News

9 Wild Trump FBI Conspiracy Theories That Will Definitely Make You Say "WTF?"

by Sarah Beauchamp
Alex Wong/Getty Images News/Getty Images

On Dec. 26, in the early hours of the morning, President Donald Trump tuned into his favorite TV show, Fox & Friends, and tweeted some new "facts" he'd learned about the FBI investigation into his campaign's alleged collusion with Russia. He claimed that the dossier used in the investigation is "bogus," essentially asserting that the FBI is using fake documents to attack him and his campaign — but this isn't the only conspiracy theory Trump has about the FBI.

"Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED." And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!

He's attempting to discredit the dossier, parts of which have been confirmed to be true, in order to delegitimize the investigation into his campaign.

Even before he took office, he repeatedly attacked the federal agency for being biased against him and colluding with Hillary Clinton and Democrats in order to sabotage his presidency. This is just the latest in Trump's conspiracy theories against the FBI. Here are a few of the wildest accusations made by Trump, his supporters, and his beloved network, Fox News.

Theory 1: The FBI Is Staging A Coup

Earlier in December, Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed that Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump-Russia collusion was "crooked from the jump" and asserted that the FBI was staging a coup to take control of the White House; "if that's true," Watters said, "we have a coup on our hands in America."

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway backed up these outlandish claims.

The fix was in against Donald Trump from the beginning, and they were pro-Hillary. They can't possibly be seen as objective or transparent or even-handed or fair.

However, many experts have pointed out how irresponsible this language is. "I've interviewed coup plotters, torture victims, generals, politicians they toppled & dozens whose lives were destroyed by actual coups & coup attempts," author Brian Klaas tweeted. "This language is so dangerous for democracy — and it's precisely what you see before purges (which Fox News hosts are advocating)."

Theory 2: The FBI Tried To Assassinate Trump

Fox News talking head Kevin Jackson asserted that former Special Counsel investigator Peter Strzok, who sent anti-Trump text messages to colleague Lisa Page, was attempting to plot the then-presidential candidate's assassination. His text message also mentioned someone named "Andy," who Jackson presumes is FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. He believes the two were potentially working together in this supposed plot against Trump.

When one of the show's hosts asked where he got this information, Jackson said the theory had been "floated" on "social media stuff." The theory hasn't been supported by any credible sources.

Theory 3: The FBI Is America's "Secret Police"

Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett said on Sean Hannity's show, Hannity:

I think we now know that the Mueller investigation is illegitimate and corrupt. And Mueller has been using the FBI as a political weapon. And the FBI has become America's secret police. Secret surveillance, wiretapping, intimidation, harassment, and threats. It's like the old KGB that comes for you in the dark of the night banging through your door.

He was referring to the FBI raiding the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was under investigation for collusion with Russia. Manafort would later be charged with conspiracy against the United States.

"It can happen to all of us, absolutely," Jarrett said. "The FBI is a shadow government now."

Of course, it really wouldn't happen to anyone unless they were somehow involved with the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia.

Theory 4: There's An Anti-Trump Bias In The FBI

On the Fox Business program Lou Dobbs Tonight, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz claimed that anti-Trump bias within the FBI is "like an infection."

This bias is like an infection. It's like an incurable cancer that's inoperable, and we've got to end this Mueller probe.

Described by CNN as "fervertly pro-Trump," Dobbs himself has said that Strzok, Mueller, and former FBI director James Comey "should be the subjects of criminal investigations and held fully accountable for crimes against a sitting president and the voters who supported him."

Theory 5: The FBI Used Secret Phones To Talk About Hillary Clinton

This claim was made in a tweet from Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, referring to Strzok's conversations with Page.

[I]f nothing to hide, why would senior FBI leaders use secret phones that "cant be traced" to talk Hillary? DOJ needs to give JudicComm full transparency/cooperation 2 restore public trust. FBI CANT BE POLITICAL

In one of the messages, Page says to Strzok:

So look, you say we text on that phone when we talk about hillary because it can't be traced, you were just venting bc you feel bad that you're gone so much but it can't be helped right now.

However, sources close to the matter told The Washington Post that the message was Page strategizing how to cover up an extramarital affair between her and Strzok, and that there weren't separate, untraceable phones.

Theory 6: The FBI Allowed Hillary Clinton To Commit Crimes

"The FBI and the Department of Justice created a fraud in allowing Hillary Clinton​ to get away with her terrible crimes," Trump said at a campaign rally in October 2016. "I guarantee you, the Clintons are laughing like hell at them right now."

He referenced "Bill Clinton's clandestine meeting on the tarmac" with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch during the FBI's probe into Hillary's emails as proof of conspiracy — even though this meeting led then-FBI Director Comey to publicly discuss the investigation, which some claim directly impacted the election, resulting in Clinton's loss. The FBI eventually recommended no charges against Clinton in the email probe.

Theory 7: The FBI, Russia, & Democrats Are All Working Together

In October 2017, Trump suggested that the "Fake Dossier" used by the FBI in the Trump-Russia investigation was funded by, possibly, Russia, Democrats, and the FBI.

However, the dossier has not been discredited, as Trump claims, and CNN's Chris Cillizza called this tweet "crazy" and said it was Trump's attempt to turn the investigation "into a partisan witch hunt" — there's been no evidence to support that the FBI has colluded with Russia to work against Trump.

Theory 8: The Obama Administration Tapped Trump's Phones

Back in March, Trump tweeted:

How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

When asked about the alleged wiretapping during his testimony before Congress that same month, Comey responded:

With respect to the president's tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets. And we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components.

Theory 9: The FBI-Russia Investigation Is A "Hoax"

Trump has tweeted that the FBI's investigation into his campaign's alleged collusion with Russia a "hoax" and a "witch hunt." He believes that it's solely an attempt to undermine his presidency and gain control of the government. But even Fox News' Shepard Smith said that it's "a lie" to claim the investigation isn't legitimate.

"That this is a ruse, that this is fake news, is a lie," Smith told the Wall Street Journal's John Bussey.

"I think that Michael Flynn pleading guilty to this charge today explicitly gives an answer to that question," Bussey replied. "It's not fake news."

And the FBI isn't the only focus of the president's conspiracy theories. He's also claimed repeatedly that Obama wasn't born in the United States, accused MSNBC host Joe Scarborough of murder, and asserted that he lost the popular vote to Clinton because of "millions" of illegal voters. And, of course, Trump and then-press secretary Sean Spicer attested that the president had the biggest inauguration crowds in history, but the photos don't lie.

Trump is attempting to discredit a government agency that's investigating him for potential crimes. In White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' own words:

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing.