This Donald Trump tweet might have caused some confusion for Patriots fans
No, not that "Spygate."
No, President Donald Trump isn’t referring to that Spygate.
In one of his typical early-morning Twitter diatribes Wednesday, Trump might have reasonably created some confusion — in New England, especially — when he declared that Spygate “could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!”
SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018
Considering his longtime ties to the New England Patriots, the president perhaps should have known that scandal nickname has already been taken.
For more than a decade, the moniker “Spygate” has commonly been meant to refer to when the Patriots were found to have illegally videotaped their opponents’ sideline signals, reportedly in at least 40 games between 2000 and 2007.
The scandal resulted in the NFL hitting coach Bill Belichick with a $500,000 fine, as well docking the team $250,000 and a first-round draft pick. The league’s hasty investigation of the team’s illicit filming practices also reportedly led the league to come down harder on the Patriots during the Deflategate scandal seven years later.
But the biggest political scandal in history? Even though Congress nearly got involved, that seems like an overstatement. And as much as Trump has defended Tom Brady when it comes to Deflategate, the president was upset Wednesday about something different.
Look how things have turned around on the Criminal Deep State. They go after Phony Collusion with Russia, a made up Scam, and end up getting caught in a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country may never have seen before! What goes around, comes around!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018
In what he says is “a major SPY scandal,” Trump is referring to reports that an FBI informant, Stefan Halper, who assisted in the agency’s investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election, had reached out to several Trump campaign staffers in 2016 to talk about foreign policy. Halper, a former official in several Republican administrations, was then working as a professor at the University of Cambridge in England.
Despite there being no evidence that Halper was in any way planted or inserted in the Trump campaign, the president has tried to seize on the reports to accused the FBI of spying on him. The White House is reportedly planning to host a gathering of Republican lawmakers and intelligence officials to review information about what Halper did.
Some see Trump’s tactics as another attempt to distract from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign. Former FBI Director James Comey defended the agency’s use of informants Wednesday morning, which he said “is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country.”
Facts matter. The FBI’s use of Confidential Human Sources (the actual term) is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country. Attacks on the FBI and lying about its work will do lasting damage to our country. How will Republicans explain this to their grandchildren?
— James Comey (@Comey) May 23, 2018
Dangerous time when our country is led by those who will lie about anything, backed by those who will believe anything, based on information from media sources that will say anything. Americans must break out of that bubble and seek truth.
— James Comey (@Comey) May 23, 2018
“Dangerous time when our country is led by those who will lie about anything, backed by those who will believe anything, based on information from media sources that will say anything,” Comey tweeted.
But for others who noticed the unintended meaning of Trump’s “SPYGATE” tweet Wednesday, the missive was taken less than seriously.
Spygate wasn’t that political, the New England Patriots were caught videotaping the Jets’ signals. I mean it’s the Jets…. https://t.co/n72Nnv1s4O
— Dusty (@DustinGiebel) May 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/SamuelDominic23/status/999250823803801601?tfw_creator=NESN&tfw_site=nesn&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnesn.com%2F2018%2F05%2Fdonald-trump-tweeting-about-spygate-has-patriots-nfl-fans-a-bit-confused%2F
i though that spygate tweet was a “there’s one for everything” situation, not something from today.
— bomani (@bomani_jones) May 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/999290618177302528
No matter where you stand on the president or the Patriots, we can all agree that Trump can’t call this Spygate right?
— Matt Vautour (@MattVautour424) May 23, 2018
Even CNN anchor and longtime Eagles fan Jake Tapper jokingly misconstrued Trump’s Spygate reference to invoke its more commonly accepted interpretation.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 23, 2018
“I’m confused how a reference to the New England Patriots’ ‘Spygate’ scandal has aroused such partisan ire,” Tapper tweeted.
Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the president’s tweet carried a double meaning in New England.
