Trump Already Claiming Interference in 2024 Election

Donald Trump is sowing doubts about the 2024 presidential election, warning about election interference nearly 18 months before votes are counted.

Trump raged in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post following new conservative dismay with the FBI, which special counsel John Durham concluded had no evidence of collusion when launching its probe of relations between Trump and Russia ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump made open comments seemingly requesting Russian aid for his campaign about seven years ago, infamously saying, "Russia, if you're listening—I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens." He joked about it during his 2020 campaign.

The 300-page Crossfire Hurricane report says that "the FBI had no information in its holdings indicating that at any time during the campaign anyone in the Trump campaign had been in contact with any Russian intelligence officials."

"I WAS BEING FRAMED BY THE FBI AND THE DOJ," Trump wrote in an all-caps post. "NOW IT CONTINUES WITH THE BOXES HOAX, THE 'PERFECT' PHONE CALL IN ATLANTA, THE MANHATTAN D.A., AND THE NEW YORK STATE A.G. SCAM. WHAT A GROUP, BUT ALL REPORT TO THE DOJ IN WASHINGTON. IT'S JAMES COMEY AND THE SLEAZEBAGS ALL OVER AGAIN."

"THEY ARE PLAYING ELECTION INTERFERENCE IN 2024 THROUGH ILLEGAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST REPUBLICANS, IN PARTICULAR YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT, ME. THESE ARE CHEATING LOWLIFES, BUT WE WILL WIN. OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO HELL!"

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign via email for comment.

While Durham's report says that the FBI failed to adhere to "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence" and proceeded to investigate Trump-Russia ties without "actual evidence," it "did not find any evidence that any FBI official or employee knowingly and intentionally participated in some type of conspiracy with others to...cause the FBI to open an investigation."

The report has thrust the FBI back into the spotlight and conservative crosshairs, with retorts from Republicans including Senator Lindsey Graham, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake alluding to the FBI's investigation as a "hoax" and "weaponized corruption."

Steve Bannon, who served as a White House adviser during the Trump administration, instead called Durham 's report an "epic failure" because it didn't lead to a certain desired outcome.

"Where are the charges? [Special Counsel Robert Durham] had all access," he said during a Tuesday episode of his Bannon's War Room podcast. "He had an unlimited budget. He'd spent six million dollars. He had four years. Where's the beef?"

Lisa Parshall, a political science professor at Daemen University, told Newsweek that it might be unwise for Trump to post about his various legal entanglements, considering the case in Georgia based on the 2020 election.

It also undermines faith in democratic institutions and elections, she said, which has become a staple of Trump's political strategy while simultaneously harming the long-term health of democracy.

"Persisting in the baseless claims of fraud given the unprecedented level of legal scrutiny given the 2020 presidential election that has done nothing but validate the results is unconscionable," Parshall said, adding that Trump's words might "lay the groundwork" signaling that 2024's aftermath "may be uglier than the last."

"This kind of rhetoric fires up his loyal base, but it has damaging consequences for the state administration of elections," she added. "It is also a strategy of contestation in anticipation of a loss—a precalculated effort to justify losing or to set the stage to challenge or attempt to invalidate the results through extra-legal means."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been continuously maligned by Trump in recent weeks as speculation ramps up that he will enter the GOP presidential race, came to the former president's defense.

"The Durham Report confirmed what we already knew: weaponized federal agencies manufactured a false conspiracy theory about Trump-Russia collusion," DeSantis tweeted Monday. "It reminds us of the need to clean house at these agencies, as they've never been held accountable for this egregious abuse of power."

The same day, members of the Proud Boys who have been convicted of seditious conspiracy inquired whether DeSantis would pardon them if he was elected president—in a similar vein to the promise Trump made during his CNN town hall.

Adam Cayton, a government professor at the University of West Florida, told Newsweek that a microscope will remain on Trump and DeSantis. He said DeSantis has to find a successful method to differentiate himself from Trump on such issues.

"[DeSantis is] running for president, which is seemingly an increasingly safe assumption," Cayton said. "He's running against the most popular, most prominent Republican in the country. So, you think obviously he would have to make the case that he's a better choice for some reason, and certainly that he's a different choice.

"I think that might be one way to differentiate himself. I hope that he will differentiate himself of being in favor of the Constitution, preserving democracy because people point out that [DeSantis is] different but the policies are the same. There's a common differentiation between style and policy, and maybe we should add a third one which is style, policy and democracy or rule of law.

"So, maybe he supports the same policies; his style is different, but he wouldn't actually want to violate the Constitution, or he wouldn't support people who do."

Durham has been called on by Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to discuss his findings and answer questions on May 25.

Update 5/17/23, 12:49 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Lisa Parshall.