Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie stunned CNN anchor Kate Bolduan Friday morning when he claimed "deep state" operatives within the United States government were attempting to push President Trump into a military conflict with Russia.
U.S. Rep. Massie, a Tea Party-affiliated Republican who has represented his Northern Kentucky district since 2012, appeared Friday on "At This Hour" to discuss former national security advisor Michael Flynn's sudden resignation. He told Bolduan that he agreed with the president's Thursday statement that "the leaks are real but the news is fake" and felt there should be more scrutiny placed on the law enforcement agencies that said Flynn lied in interviews with the FBI.
"What we do know is that is was illegal for the -- somebody at the FBI or the NSA to leak this information," he said, referencing the president's assertion that the intelligence community had leaked Flynn's conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak in order to undermine him. "There should be an investigation there."
As the interview continued, Massie doubled down on his assertion that forces with the intelligence and military communities were actively working against the president.
"I do disagree with a lot of people here in Washington and maybe some supporters of Trump who say that this is an effort by the Obama administration to undermine the Trump administration," Massie said. "I'm worried it's something deeper than that. I'm concerned that it's an effort on those who want a provocation with Russia or other countries to sort of push the president in the direction. So I don't think it's Trump vs. Obama -- I think it's really the deep state vs. the president."
Obama was not the source of that "deep state" movement, Massie said, but had been incorporated into its web and used in service of its agenda during his time in office.
"I think he got pulled by the military-industrial complex and the intelligence community into these positions," Massie said. "He even helped cover up Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11."
(Massie has backed claims of Saudi and even British involvement in 9/11 since at least 2014, according to Raw Story.)
Bolduan, normally unflappable, seemed speechless.
"That's an important point that we'll definitely want to discuss more if you have evidence that this is a concerted effort to draw the president into a conflict with Russia," she said. "I do want to have you back on, congressman, but we're out of time now."
