Trump hits FBI: Totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers'

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President Donald Trump took a swing at the FBI over Twitter Friday morning, saying the agency was "totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government."

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time," Trump tweeted. "They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself."

"Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW," Trump wrote in a follow-up tweet.

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Trump may have been responding to a CNN report from Thursday evening, which detailed how the FBI rejected a White House request to publicly shoot down stories about alleged communications between Russian operatives and the president's inner circle.

Trump administration officials wanted the FBI to disavow the reports and say that there was no contact between people associated with Trump and Russia, the network said, citing multiple US officials familiar with the discussions.

Earlier this month, the president accused the intelligence community of leaking information to publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, singling out the National Security Agency and the FBI.

"Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia," Trump tweeted.

He has also suggested that investigations and reports into his campaign's ties to Russia are "fake news," while the real focus should be on information leaks.

Bryan Logan contributed to this report.

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