kosmos: Spygate (conspiracy theory)

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Spygate is a disproven conspiracy theory peddled by 45th U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base on many occasions throughout his first presidential term. It primarily centered around the idea that a spy was planted by the Obama administration to conduct espionage on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign for political purposes. On May 17, 2018, Trump tweeted: "Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI 'spied on the Trump campaign with an embedded informant.'" In that tweet, he quoted Andrew C. McCarthy, who had just appeared on Fox & Friends repeating assertions from his own May 12 article for National Review. Trump made more assertions, without providing evidence, on May…

Evidence: 51 • authority: 72

The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a controversial political opposition research report on the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump compiled by counterintelligence specialist Christopher Steele. It was published without permission in 2017 as an unfinished 35-page compilation of "unverified, and potentially unverifiable" memos that were considered by Steele to be "raw intelligence – not established facts, but a starting point for further investigation". The dossier was written from June to December 2016 as reports from his sources were received, and contains allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Trump's presidential campaign and the…

Evidence: 44 • authority: 72

The Russian government conducted foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), the operation—code named "Project Lakhta"—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The "hacking and disinformation campaign" to damage Clinton and help Trump became the "core of the scandal known as Russiagate". The Internet Research Agency (IRA), based in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and described as a troll farm, created thousands of soc…

Evidence: 39 • authority: 72

The 2019 Trump–Ukraine political scandal arose primarily from the discovery of U.S. president Donald Trump's attempts to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden and thus potentially damage Biden's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination. Trump enlisted surrogates in and outside his administration, including personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, to pressure Ukraine and other governments to cooperate in supporting and legitimizing the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory and other conspiracy theories concerning U.S. politics. Trump blocked payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package, in an attempt…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 80

Trump as Troll: Personae and Persuasive Inoculation in the 2016 Presidential Campaign

Evidence: 20 • authority: 88

Exercising presidential power. This chapter will consider the ways in which presidents exercise power, with specific emphasis on the differing leadership styles of Presidents Trump and Obama. Parallels will be drawn with regard to use of formal and informal powers, nomination and appointment of staff, issuing executive orders and relations with other actors, most notably Congress, the Supreme Court, and including, where relevant, intelligence agencies, international organisations and world leaders.

Evidence: 20 • authority: 80

1. Introduction: Presidential legacy in the era of Obama and Trump

Evidence: 20 • authority: 88

Introduction: Presidential legacy in the era of Obama and Trump. This chapter will explore the theme of legacy and will also discuss how rollback can occur. It is important to have a firm grasp on these concepts, while acknowledging that they are intellectually imprecise. We intend to embed these themes through the book, and consider them in the context of presidential leadership as well as issues legacy. The content will focus on the different institutional context that a) enables a president to establish a legacy and b) empowers new presidents to undo the legacy of their predecessor. It will reflect on the distinction between legacy that has resulted from congressional action and that rel…

Evidence: — • authority: 80

On Objections To Contraceptive Coverage, Trump Administration Appears Set To Reverse Obama Approach

Evidence: — • authority: 72

As part of a larger conspiracy theory, Donald Trump posited that Barack Obama had spied on him, which Trump described as "the biggest political crime in American history, by far." The series of accusations have been nicknamed Obamagate. Obama had served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 until 2017, when Trump succeeded him; Trump served as the 45th president until 2021 (first presidency) and later he was re-elected in 2024 as the 47th president (second presidency). During key points of the 2020 campaign, including the Republican National Convention and both presidential debates, Trump frequently repeated this theory, claiming "they spied on my campaign" in reference to th…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Donald Trump ran a successful campaign for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced his campaign on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City, initially battling for the Republican Party's nomination. On May 26, 2016, he became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. Trump was officially nominated on July 19 at the Republican National Convention. He chose Mike Pence, the sitting governor of Indiana, as his vice presidential running mate. On November 8, Trump and Pence were elected president and vice president of the United States. Trump's populist positions in opposition to illegal immigration and various trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, ea…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The election denial movement in the United States is a widespread false belief that elections in the United States are rigged and stolen through election fraud by the opposing political party. Adherents of the movement are referred to as election deniers. Election fraud conspiracy theories have spread online and through conservative conferences, community events, and door-to-door canvassing. Since the 2020 United States presidential election, many Republican politicians have sought elective office or taken legislative steps to address what they assert is weak election integrity leading to widespread fraudulent elections, though no evidence of systemic election fraud has come to light and ma…