'One-Man Wrecking Ball': Trump Hopes One of His 'Crowning Achievements' Will Be Exposing 'Cancer' of FBI

It is no secret that President Donald Trump resents the FBI for opening the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia — a case since taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.

But in a new interview with The Hill on Tuesday, Trump took his rhetoric to a new level while defending his decision to declassify sensitive documents about the Russia investigation.

"It's a hoax, beyond a witch hunt," he said, repeating his oft-made accusation that the FBI misrepresented evidence to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. And he wrapped up by saying: "I hope to be able to put this up as one of my crowning achievements that I was able to ... expose something that is truly a cancer in our country."

For Trump to call the nation's foremost federal investigative agency a "cancer" and to say that he hopes one of his "crowning achievements" is to stop members of his own civil service from pursuing an investigation has horrifying implications for the rule of law. But it is just the latest in a long line of attempts from the president to politicize the agency, which at least one recent poll shows Republicans are following his lead on.

For the record, Trump's FISA conspiracy theory — which was the focus of the much-hyped Nunes memo — has been debunked. The FBI brought plenty of evidence to the FISA court and did not rely solely on the Steele dossier.

Moreover, since Mueller has already won dozens of indictments and several guilty pleas from key members of the Trump campaign, the only way the investigation is a "witch hunt" is if witches are real.

We are long past any point at which it could be argued whether the FBI did not have a legitimate purpose in opening the probe. But Trump would have the public believe they are a "cancer" for daring to do so.