Angered by leaks about the investigation of his former National Security Advisor and questions about the ties of his campaign to Russia, President Donald Trump again strongly criticized the U.S. Intelligence Community, as Mr. Trump charged that Michael Flynn was the victim of a campaign run by both the press and intelligence insiders.
"People are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that Democrats had under Hillary Clinton," the President said at a joint news conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, denouncing leaks about Flynn's contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the United States.
"And the documents and the papers that were illegally - I stress that - illegally leaked, very, very unfair," Mr. Trump added, as he strongly defended his former National Security Advisor.
"General Flynn is a wonderful man; I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media - as I call it, the fake media in many cases," Mr. Trump said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump used his bullhorn on Twitter to make the case as well.
"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!" the President said in a series of morning tweets, as he made clear his feelings about talk of ties to Russia.
"This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign," the President added.
In Congress, there were some Republican voices who echoed the President's complaints about recent leaks.
"It is very dangerous and un-American to leak," said Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID).
"Anyone who would leak national security issues should be ashamed of themselves, and they are not a credit to America," Risch said on the PBS "News Hour."
House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) had also been critical of the leaks, as some Republicans stepped up to support Mr. Trump.
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