President Donald Trump has argued that the ongoing investigation into potential ties between his campaign and the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election is a “witch hunt." | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Trump questions whether Clinton has ties to Russia

President Donald Trump wondered online Thursday morning whether his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton had a financial arrangement with the Russian government, suggesting in a tweet that evidence contained on Democratic National Committee servers or on Clinton’s infamous email servers had been destroyed.

“Disproven and paid for by Democrats ‘Dossier used to spy on Trump Campaign. Did FBI use Intel tool to influence the Election?’ @foxandfriends,” Trump wrote on Twitter, apparently referencing Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” the morning show on which he receives almost unfailingly positive coverage. “Did Dems or Clinton also pay Russians? Where are hidden and smashed DNC servers? Where are Crooked Hillary Emails? What a mess!”


Trump has complained often about the unverified dossier of information alleging ties between him and the Russian government that was originally commissioned by a Republican client and later funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign.

On a larger scale, he has argued that the ongoing investigation into potential ties between his campaign and the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election is a “witch hunt” invented by Democrats to excuse Clinton’s unexpected loss.

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The president has also regularly suggested that there might be evidence of wrongdoing on emails deleted from the personal email server Clinton maintained during her tenure as secretary of state. There is no evidence that the Clinton campaign or the DNC were engaged in any agreements with the Kremlin during the campaign.

Clinton's former campaign manager, John Podesta, was the victim of hacking during the 2016 election. WikiLeaks released a trove of emails from Podesta but denied it received the emails from Russians. Clinton's campaign and others alleged Russians were behind the hacking.

