President Trump ripped into Obama and his administration for 'spying' on his presidential campaign, claiming if the same had happened to Obama it would be considered treason
In Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency, authors Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, and David Bossie, deputy campaign manager and part of the transition team, sat down with Trump for a 45-minute interview, covering a wide-range of topics, including the Mueller probe, fake news and his strained relationship with Obama.
When asked if he believed Obama knew that his appointed CIA chief John Brennan and director of national intelligence (DNI) James Clapper were conducting surveillance on citizens, specifically members of his campaign, Trump said he believed the former president was aware of what they were doing.
Trump responded: 'Personally, I think he knew. Yeah. Just remember what they did.
'Let me put it this way: if the shoe were on the other foot, and the same thing happened to him, it would be treason and they'd be locked up for 100 years.'
When Trump was asked if he believed Obama knew that his appointed CIA chief John Brennan (left), and director of national intelligence (DNI), James Clapper (right) were conducting surveillance on members of his campaign, Trump said he believed Obama was aware
'In most cases, the names of all individuals who attended these meetings are listed and unredacted, with the exception of one.
Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency lays bare the lengths those who revile the president have gone to undermine and destroy him
The FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation sought to uncover ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
It later would morph into the Russia probe being overseen by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The initial probe was established on July 31, 2016, and the code name was a line from a Rolling Stones lyric at a time when Trump was firing up his supporters to the 1968 hit song Jumpin' Jack Flash.
The authors write in their new book, which is out on Tuesday: 'We have little doubt that Obama had let his intelligence agencies spiral out of control during his eight years in office, even going so far as to either implicitly or explicitly allow them to conduct surveillance on citizens of the United States on domestic soil-and not just any citizens, but members of the Trump campaign.'
The two claim people at the top of Obama's government were more left-leaning than in any administration in history, and they felt threatened by the incoming Trump administration, leading to 'treasonous' surveillance and sparking the Russia probe.
But Trump believes the investigation has made his supporters even more loyal, saying: 'I think it makes my base stronger.
'I would have never said this to you. But I think the level of love now is far greater than when we won.'
Corey Lewandowski (left) and David Bossie (right) write: 'We have little doubt that Obama had let his intelligence agencies spiral out of control..., even going so far as to either implicitly or explicitly allow them to conduct surveillance on... members of the Trump campaign'
They wrote: 'By bringing that folder into his briefing with Trump, Comey transformed the dossier from unverified fiction to 'a document that was presented to the president-elect in a private briefing with intelligence agencies.
'Fake News organizations could now make it sound like an essential piece of information.
'Comey had given the fake dossier legitimacy, and the Fake News license to print the whole thing, which BuzzFeed did a day later. He admitted he did this in his own memos, writing that CNN was waiting for a 'news hook' to publish.'
In the sit-down interview, Trump took aim at the fired FBI director, saying in hindsight he should have fired him from the start.
Trump said: 'In retrospect, I should have fired him the day after I won and announced please get the hell out. But I really did very early. It's not like I waited a long time. In retrospect, I wish I fired him immediately.
'Here's the thing. I didn't do it for popularity. When I fired him, I said "wow." This will be really bipartisan. This will be very popular.
'Because Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, saying you gotta fire him. I can't think of one that was positive. Everybody hated him. The Republicans, likewise, hated him.
'So, when I fired him, I said this is going to be very popular. And the minute I fired him, they started saying wonderful things about him. Because it's a very dishonest system in Washington.'
But despite Clapper and Brennan's surveillance and their likely push to have Obama advise Trump not to hire Michael Flynn as head of the National Security Counsel, which would expose their abuse, the authors said it was James Comey who created the most trouble for Trump by delivering the dossier concocted by Christopher Steele
'It is collusion, because they work together. You'll see some things, like a certain phrase will be used, and they'll stick together, and if it doesn't work, they'll go onto the next thing. And they'll all do it in unison.
'The other thing that's very dangerous is social media. You look at Google, all of these things that are so far Left-leaning.
'For instance, if you look under Trump, they show bad stories. They show very few good, and mostly bad.
'When I said enemy of the people, I didn't say the media, I said the Fake News. There's a difference.
'The amazing thing is that you have certain people who are conservative Republicans that if my name weren't Trump, if it were John Smith, they would say I'm the greatest president in history and I blow Ronald Reagan away.
'You want to know the truth? The system is so badly rigged by the media, including the modern forms of social media, it's almost impossible for me to get a good story out of the New York Times.
'I think that one of the most important things that I've done, especially for the public, is explain that a lot of the news is indeed fake. I look at stories about myself, it might be good or bad. And, I don't mind a bad story as long as it's true. But they'll take a great story and make it bad.
'The worst is that it's hard to defend yourself. The advantage of social media is that I can defend myself-I mean social media is skewed to the left-but at least I have my way of getting my message out for instance. They write things about me that are no problem.'
Trump's Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency by Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie is availableon Amazon November 27.
All presidents get setup this way if they show any resistance.... and usually before any scheduled meeting.... election etc.