Trump on the Lewandowski investigation: dishonest people are ‘stealing from me’

Trump has a firm position on corruption inside his own administration: it’s a crime against Donald Trump.

Asked on Thursday about reports that the Justice Department is looking at Corey Lewandowski, he said, “I heard something about it, but I don’t know exactly what it is.” He wants his people honest, and if they aren’t, “they have to be prosecuted.” Then came the victim impact statement. People who aren’t honest, he explained, are “stealing from me as president. They’re stealing from me.”

A reporter asked if he’s OK with the investigation. “I guess I can stop anything,” he said, followed by “I have no idea what he did.” Asked if he meant Lewandowski when he talked about people stealing, he kept it general: “If somebody is dishonest, I consider them not only against the country, I consider that dishonest against me.” Moments later: “I will never do anything to stop a prosecution if somebody is dishonest.” Good to know the option got a look first.

Here’s what’s reported. The New York Times, citing two officials, says the criminal inquiry grew out of a referral from DHS’s inspector general over accusations that Lewandowski personally profited from his role as an unpaid adviser at the department. His lawyer, Adam Trigg, says the Justice Department hasn’t contacted him and that he denies any wrongdoing. If any money did go missing, it was the taxpayers’. The president has filed the claim under his own name.