Trump blasts 'Spygate' as political attack on campaign

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has branded his latest attempt to discredit the special counsel's Russia investigation as "spygate," part of a newly invigorated strategy embraced by his Republican colleagues to raise suspicions about the probe, dogging his presidency since the start.

Trump now is zeroing in on -- and at times embellishing -- reports a longtime U.S. government informant approached members of his 2016 campaign during the presidential election in a possible bid to glean intelligence on Russian efforts to sway the election. He tweeted Wednesday morning the FBI has been caught in a "major SPY scandal."

Trump's latest broadsides set the stage for an unusual decision by the White House to arrange a briefing about classified documents for just two Republican House members, both Trump allies, in a meeting expected today, as Trump and his supporters in Congress press for information on the outside informant.

After Democratic complaints, the White House said late Wednesday it would also give an additional briefing to group of lawmakers known as the "Gang of Eight" after the Memorial Day recess. The group includes the top Republicans and Democrats in each chamber and the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

It remains unclear what, if any, spying was done. The White House has given no evidence to support Trump's claim the Obama administration was trying to spy on his 2016 campaign for political reasons. It's long been known the FBI was looking into Russian meddling during the campaign and part of the inquiry touched on the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian figures.

Trump has told confidants in recent days the revelation of an informant was potential evidence the upper echelon of federal law enforcement has conspired against him, according to three people familiar with his recent conversations but not authorized to discuss them publicly. Trump told one ally this week he wanted "to brand" the informant a "spy," believing the more nefarious term would resonate more in the media and with the public.

He went on to debut the term "Spygate," despite its previous associations with a 2007 NFL scandal over videotaping coaches.

Democrats said Wednesday the briefing -- held as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Trump's campaign and whether it was involved in Russian meddling in the U.S. election -- was highly inappropriate and asked for the "Gang of Eight" briefing instead of Thursday's GOP-only meeting.

After negotiations with leaders on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon, White House spokesman Raj Shah announced the additional bipartisan meeting but said Thursday's briefing would go on.