WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of the FBI on Friday over its investigation of possible links between Russia and his campaign, adding a new round of his own complaints to a growing conservative effort to discredit the inquiry.
"It's a shame what's happened with the FBI," the president told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for an event at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. "We're going to rebuild the FBI, it'll be bigger and better than ever, but it is very sad when you look at those documents, and how they've done that is really, really disgraceful, and you have a lot of very angry people that are seeing it."
Without citing specifics, Trump described an extraordinary "level of anger" at the FBI over the investigation. He labeled "disgraceful" recently released text messages between one of the agents on the investigation and a lawyer for the bureau who were critical of him. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, removed the agent from the investigation when he learned of the texts.
Trump's latest attacks on the FBI kept alive a public feud between the president and the nation's premier law enforcement agency over an inquiry Trump has long derided as a "witch hunt." The attacks also came amid a campaign by congressional Republicans, conservative media and the president's lawyers to paint the inquiry as a partisan effort to weaken the president.
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"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "Everybody knows it. That was a Democrat hoax. It was an excuse for losing the election and it should never have been this way, where they spent all these millions of dollars."
He also criticized the FBI's handling of the investigation into Hillary Rodham Clinton and her use of a private email server, calling it a "scam." The Justice Department closed that case without filing charges.
"They found tremendous things on the other side," Trump said. "When you look at the Hillary Clinton investigation, it was -- I've been saying for a long time -- that was a rigged system."
The president's constant attacks have frustrated FBI agents who say they see him as diminishing a proud organization and eroding its trust with the public. Other agents dismiss the president's comments as empty rhetoric and said that many hope Trump stops dragging the agency into the headlines and accusing it of being political.
"The agents just want to be viewed as being referees who call balls and strikes and follow the evidence," said James Gagliano, who spent more than two decades in the FBI.
"The rank and file just want to return to normalcy. They want to dispel the notion that America should not trust its premier law enforcement agency."
Democrats also were quick to defend the bureau.
"The men and women of the FBI are among the most professional and committed public servants in our nation, and the president's comments this morning are gravely concerning," Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in an email in response to questions.
"American law enforcement officers, including those serving at the FBI and training at the FBI Academy where President Trump spoke, do not serve him personally, but serve all of us," he added.
Asked at a news conference Friday afternoon whether he agreed with Trump's assessment of the FBI, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has at times faced sharp criticism from Trump since recusing himself from the Russia probe, did not directly answer but praised the bureau.
"The FBI is doing a great job around the country," he said, citing its work with other federal law enforcement agencies. He said he does not share a view that the FBI "is not functioning at a high level all over the country."
The president also said Friday that it was premature to discuss whether he would pardon Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser who pleaded guilty this month to lying to the FBI in connection with the investigation.
"I don't want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet," Trump said. "We'll see what happens. Let's see. I can say this: When you look at what's gone on with the FBI and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry."
The president had said after Flynn's guilty plea that the reputation of the FBI was "in tatters" and its standing with the public was the "worst in history."
FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the agency in testimony to Congress and in a letter to nearly 37,000 agents and support staff members, saying he was "inspired by example after example of professionalism and dedication to justice demonstrated around the bureau."
In Virginia, Trump lavished praise on about 200 graduates of a weekslong FBI National Academy program for law enforcement leaders from around the country.
He praised the graduates, who were trained on FBI standards, touting their accomplishments and pledging his unwavering support. Trump told law enforcement leaders that he is "more loyal than anyone else could be" to police officers.
"Anti-police sentiment is wrong, and it's dangerous," he added. "Anyone who kills a police officer should get the death penalty."
Trump depicted a nation besieged by violence, using dark rhetoric that was a stark departure from the language of his predecessors. He evoked this week's attempted terror attack in New York when he called for stricter immigration policies. He also delivered a stern warning to members of the international gang MS-13 that his administration will root them out and arrest them.
Trump celebrated his decision to make it easier for local police forces to purchase surplus military equipment and questioned rising violence in Chicago.
"What the hell is going on in Chicago? What the hell is happening there?" asked Trump returning to a favorite campaign target.
The law enforcement crowd often chuckled and applauded him. Trump has often appeared at ease in front of police groups and loves to suggest that they supported him in last year's campaign.
Violent crime has increased nationally the past two years but has dropped precipitously over the past quarter-century. Gun violence in Chicago has dropped in 2017 from 2016, and as of Sunday there had been 620 homicides compared with 730 at the same time last year.
Trump did not repeat his criticisms of the FBI at the event. He sat alongside Wray and Sessions. At the end, Trump thanked the FBI.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael Tackett of The New York Times; and by Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller and Sadie Gurman of The Associated Press.
A Section on 12/16/2017