When Donald Trump felt wronged as a businessman, he had a go-to move — threatening to sue. Now that he’s president, Trump has a new play — ordering up an investigation.

Calling for investigations has become a preferred tactic of the Trump administration as it seeks to change the subject, deflect attention from the president's unproven claims or muddy the waters when facing criticism.


But even some Republican allies are questioning the wisdom of the knee-jerk reaction, warning that probes could backfire by exposing all sorts of other untoward allegations and giving Democrats a tool with which to bludgeon the White House.

Democrats are already licking their chops after the administration called for a congressional investigation into Trump’s claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower phones during the "very sacred election process.”

"He's opened that door," said Sen. Angus King, an independent of Maine.

It remains unclear whether the investigations, led by a Republican House and Senate, will damage Trump. Many GOP leaders have backed and tried to protect the president, even as they privately grouse about his comments and behavior.

For Trump, the technique is an evolution of his private sector strategy. The real estate mogul usually threatened or filed lawsuits to get his way, according to former and current business officials, lobbyists and others who worked with him. "His first move was to threaten to sue you," said one lobbyist who dealt with Trump. "He loved to sue people. He loved throwing lawsuits around."

In the government, he prefers calling for investigations, while not worrying about the potential impropriety of the executive branch meddling into congressional watchdog duties for political purposes. He has told friends and associates that calling for an investigation is a good way to throw the problems on someone else.

But just as Trump sometimes failed to follow through on threats to slap his rivals with lawsuits, the president has not always made good on his promise to pursue probes.

After Trump falsely claimed that 3 million to 5 million people voted fraudulently during the election to explain why he lost the popular vote, his administration vowed he would sign an executive order calling for a probe — but he never signed the order, and the investigation hasn't begun. House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz on Tuesday said his panel won’t explore the allegation.

White House aides have said privately that they hope he will forget about the allegations because many of them do not believe the evidence exists to back up his claims, one administration official said. And he has been chastised by Republicans on Capitol Hill for the loose accusations.

"I don't see any evidence of that. We're not doing an investigation of that,” Chaffetz said about the voter fraud claims.

One of Trump’s fixations has become the number of leaks springing from the government about his administration’s activities and his personal behavior, including his erratic calls with foreign leaders and alleged communications between his campaign advisers and Russian officials. The president has demanded several times that authorities probe such “criminal leaks,” sometimes using Twitter and sometimes personally calling the Justice Department.

Some of his aides have privately said the investigations may find that it is not Obama appointees putting out the damaging material. It is unclear where those investigations stand.

A White House spokeswoman said there is no update on the investigations Trump has called for and that she couldn't say if he plans to request more probes. "He has no concerns that anything will backfire," Stephanie Grisham, the spokeswoman, said.

Trump’s calls for probes so far have been wide-ranging.

"We should start an immediate investigation," Trump tweeted on Friday of Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, posting a 2003 picture of Schumer and Russian President Vladimir Putin eating doughnuts at a New York Lukoil gas station. Schumer immediately welcomed the call, saying he would gladly talk under oath about his contact with Putin — and he challenged Trump to do the same. The whole incident was largely laughed off.

Trump had also asked a National Park Service official to look into his claims that his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama's, though a formal inquiry wasn't launched -- and the claims were further challenged when the Park Service released official photographs.

White House aides joined Trump’s call for an investigation to prove his claims about Obama tapping his phones only after they felt backed into a corner by his tweets, according to several administration officials and others in Trump’s orbit. Aides didn't know how to defend the remarks — because they didn't even know where they came from. One administration official said White House lawyers urged them to be careful. After saying Trump wanted Congress to investigate, Sean Spicer, the press secretary, said on Sunday there would be no further comment — hoping that the claims would be wrapped into a broader Russia probe and go away, at least for now.

Trump may find significant cover from investigations in Congress, where Republicans lead both chambers. So far, Republicans have resisted calls for a special prosecutor into the various Russia allegations — and some share his feeling that the Russia questions are overblown or partisan.

"I think a lot of the things he says, you guys sometimes take literally," Rep. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters Tuesday. "Sometimes he doesn't have 27 lawyers and staff looking at what he does, which I think is at times refreshing."

The House and Senate intelligence committees are both looking into Trump’s wiretap claims as part of their larger investigations into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election. The judiciary panels in both chambers are also seeking information from the FBI on the issue.

Sam Nunberg, a former longtime Trump aide, said the calls for an investigation on the tapped phone claim was successful in "shifting the narrative.”

"The tweets keep his base motivated," Nunberg said. "I would not have attacked the president directly, however President Trump's tweets completely changed the narrative and got Clapper to admit there was no connection between the Russian government and the Trump campaign."

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said recently there was “no evidence” as of Jan. 20 that there had been collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.

Yet the call for an investigation rattled lawmakers, even GOP ones, who don't believe Obama tapped Trump's phone.

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There was audible laughter when Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) repeated Trump’s tweets at a town hall in South Carolina on Saturday. He sent a joint letter with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, asking for evidence of the wiretap on Wednesday. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he wasn't sure an investigation was needed unless the president showed he had evidence.

Democrats note that congressional probes into the White House have long brought embarrassing revelations, public hearings where officials are shamed, and months of damaging stories that dogged approval ratings and hampered key agenda items. Democrats have access to investigatory materials and findings, which they can make sure become public.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the investigation would prove either "unscrupulous or unlawful conduct" or that the president didn't tell the truth.

"The president has asked our committee to investigate this, and I would say, 'Mr. President, we accept, we accept, we will investigate this,'" he told reporters on Tuesday. "We should be able to determine in short order whether this accusation is true or false."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), meanwhile, said she hoped Trump’s claims would bolster the case for an independent commission to investigate Russia’s meddling in the presidential elections, a proposal GOP leaders have so far rejected in favor of keeping the investigation within the House and Senate intelligence committees.

While Spicer said aides would have no further comment after his statement calling for an investigation, the White House repeatedly has been forced to comment. Near the end of a news briefing Wednesday, Spicer wanted to make one thing clear — after he was handed a piece of paper from someone watching in another room.

“There is no reason that we have to think the president is the target of any investigation whatsoever,” Spicer said.

