The president is a shameless public liar, which has served him fairly well so far in American politics. What Donald Trump realized is that, when it comes to deceit, no half-measures will do. You've got to go all the way. So it goes with his newest production, a scandal he abracadabra'd into existence this week that he's calling "SPYGATE!"

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SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018

In fact, this is just one of seven Official Communications From The President since Wednesday suggesting there's a "spying" scandal:



Some might point out the term "Spygate" is already taken. Wait, don't bring the NFL into this—they're busy!

Unfortunately, we must now devote some time to explain why the president's new ploy is a scam. "Spygate" refers to the theory that the FBI planted a spy in the Trump campaign during the election, which does indeed sound sketchy. Some versions claim the Deep State planted this spy even before they had reason to believe Trump officials had links to Russia, simply to undermine his campaign.

Except the whole thing is based on reports that an FBI informant merely spoke with three campaign officials in an attempt to suss out whether they were up to something with Kremlin-linked figures. There is no evidence that this took place before the FBI had reason to suspect a Russian Connection, and there is no evidence the informant tried to join the Trump campaign—which is kind of a key part of infiltrating it, as a spy would. As USA Today's Brad Heath noted on Twitter, informants are a standard part of law enforcement investigations that the FBI's "domestic operations guide" explicitly authorizes agents to use.

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While his trademark shamelessness allows Trump to trample the truth with a conscience not so much clear as it is blank, it also often makes his plans fairly transparent. "We're calling it Spygate," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn this week, giving away the game that this was merely a strategic ploy. The AP was kind enough to settle the issue of just how cynical the SPYGATE branding effort is:

"Trump told one ally this week that he wanted 'to brand' the [FBI's 2016 campaign] informant a 'spy,' believing the more nefarious term would resonate more in the media and with the public."

All the world's an infomercial. While a longtime FBI informant passing information to the FBI is normal, a SPY sounds very bad! Since nothing matters and he knows he can say anything as long as his supporters believe it—and they will believe it—Trump has decided to just...say there was a spy! As usual, Rudy Giuliani popped up last week to give away the game even more than his boss does:

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Rudy Giuliani on President Trump's claims that there was an "informant" in the Trump campaign: "I don't know for sure, nor does the President, if there really was one” pic.twitter.com/of1eS51GwR — New Day (@NewDay) May 18, 2018

We're just saying things! Among the Spygate tweets of the last two days, there was also a reminder from the president of what this strategy really boils down to:

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WITCH HUNT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018

You don't need a super-sleuth to tell you that Trump is trying to create a scandal here involving the FBI and the Justice Department while those same organizations investigate him and his associates for possible obstruction of justice, collusion with Russia, and related corruption charges. In fact, as The Daily Beast reminds us, this is just the latest scandal Trump has manufactured to try to bury the Russia probe.

Previously, there was:

Notice you don't hear about any of these lines of attack anymore because they didn't work and they were either false or weak in the first place. That last one, for instance, occasioned the infamous Memo from Devin Nunes, which turned out to be an all-time nothingburger. It was Nunes' attempts to subpoena the Justice Department for details about the confidential informant that fed the right-wing media laundromat to produce this "scandal."

Soon, Spygate will join the scrap heap, but not before Trump lobs some more wildly false claims about it:

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Here’s what Clapper actually said:



BEHAR: "I ask you, was the FBI spying on Trump's campaign?"



CLAPPER: "No, they were not. They were spying on — a term I don't particularly like — but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating..." pic.twitter.com/AaJgNuIbUk — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 24, 2018

Meanwhile, the real investigation grinds on:

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The Special Counsel's office helpfully made a bullet point list of all the charges they have filed so far. https://t.co/Jo0ejJlYrr pic.twitter.com/FDS0b7CuUG — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 24, 2018

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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