Trump: FBI Botched Shooter Tip by Focusing on Russia

Blames agency for missing 'all of the many signals' sent by suspect in Fla. school shooting
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 18, 2018 5:36 AM CST
Trump: FBI Botched Shooter Tip by Focusing on Russia
President Trump, accompanied by Florida Gov. Rick Scott, right, speaks as they meet with law enforcement officers at Broward County Sheriff's Office in Pompano Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, following Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Trump lashed out at the FBI on Saturday night, saying the agency "missed all of the many signals" sent by the suspect in the Florida school shooting and arguing they are "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign." Trump tweeted: "This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!" He later added that "the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems."

The FBI received a tip last month that the suspect in the Florida school shooting had a "desire to kill" and access to guns and could be plotting an attack, reports the AP. But the agency said Friday that agents failed to investigate. The FBI's acknowledgment that it mishandled the tip prompted a sharp rebuke from its boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and a call from Florida's Republican Gov. Rick Scott, a Trump ally, for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign. Trump and other Republicans have heavily criticized the FBI. They are still dissatisfied with its decision not to charge Hillary Clinton with crimes related to her use of a private email server, and they see signs of bias in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia.

(More President Trump stories.)

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