Former President Donald Trump overnight continued to demand either a new presidential election or to "declare the rightful winner" from the 2020 race between himself and President Joe Biden after news reports that a senior FBI agent under scrutiny for allegations of political bias had left the agency.
"The Presidential Election was BADLY & IRREPARABLY TAINTED by the FBI's FAKE description of the 'Laptop from Hell' to Facebook & the LameStream Media - & for MANY other reasons as well," Trump posted on his Truth Social page.
"Declare the rightful winner, or hold a new Election, NOW! Our Country, which is failing badly, knows the 'score,' and will never accept Criminal Election Interference," the post continued. "The FBI just fired its Special Agent In Charge of this outrageous & very illegal assault on the Constitution of the United States of America!"
The Washington Times reported Monday, quoting two former FBI officials said to be familiar with the situation, that assistant special agent in charge Timothy Thibault had been seen Friday being escorted from the building by two or three "headquarters-looking types."
The sources said Thibault, the 25-year veteran, who had been accused of political bias in his handling of probes involving Biden's son, Hunter, had been forced out, but The Times said it was not clear whether he had resigned or had been fired.
Thibault had come to the attention of congressional Republicans through internal leaks about his conduct and his social media posts. According to the New York Post, the agent had already been on leave for a month after Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, raised concerns about claims from a whistleblower that the FBI obstructed the Hunter Biden investigations.
Trump's overnight post included the message he'd posted Monday, when he demanded to either be declared the "rightful winner" or that another election be held.
"So now it comes out, conclusively, that the FBI BURIED THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY BEFORE THE ELECTION knowing that, if they didn't, 'Trump would have easily won the 2020 Presidential Election,'" he said Monday in the initial post.
Trump followed up later Tuesday morning with a post that included a report about Thibault pleading guilty to destroying evidence in an Arkansas case.
"This is the man responsible for investigating Voter Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election," Trump's later post said. "He covered it all up. Too bad Bill Barr and Mike Pence didn't know this. The FBI did. Never too late???"
He kept hammering away at this issue, posting less than a half hour later:
"Presidential Records Act was fully adhered to by me, but not by the FBI. They RAIDED my home (4th Amendment anyone?). Agent In Charge was just walked out of the FBI Headquarters Building for wrongdoing. He was also involved with the 2020 Election Hoax, the Crime of the Century!!!"
Trump is widely expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 race but has not yet done so.
His fight about the FBI also comes almost a month after agents raided his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, seizing several boxes of documents, and as a hearing is scheduled for Thursday on his request that a special master, or third-party attorney, be appointed to oversee the FBI's examination of the evidence.
Grassley called out Thibault in a press release in May, asking then that the Department of Justice give the agent's work history records to the inspector general's office.
Monday, he said that even with Thibault out, that should not stop Congress from seeking answers about whether the FBI is politicized and if it affects ongoing investigations.
Thibault's "blatant partisanship undermined the work and reputation of the FBI," said Grassley on Monday. "This type of bias in high-profile investigations casts a shadow over all of the bureau's work that he was involved in, which ranged from opening an investigation into Trump based on liberal news articles to shutting down investigative activity into Hunter Biden that was based on verified information."