# Spygate Spygate is the nickname President Donald Trump gave in May 2018 to an unproven claim that the FBI planted a spy inside his 2016 campaign, coined days after a New York Times report on a bureau informant meeting campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. The tag caught fire on Twitter within hours, drawing mockery, jokes about the 2007 NFL scandal of the same name, and pointed pushback from former FBI director James Comey. ## Origin The catalyst was a May 16, 2018 New York Times story on Crossfire Hurricane, which detailed how two FBI informants had traveled to London in 2016 to meet campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and gauge what the Trump team knew about Russian election interference[1]. A week of angry presidential tweets followed, echoing his 2017 wiretapping claims. On May 23, 2018, Trump posted, 'Look how things have turned around on the Criminal Deep State... a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country may never have seen before!'[2] Minutes later he added, 'SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!'[4] The second tweet is what officially christened the label and pulled in more than 17,000 retweets in its first day[8]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** Donald Trump - **Date:** 2018 ## Overview Trump rolled out the label in a pair of tweets on May 23, 2018, framing the FBI's use of a confidential informant during the Russia probe as a scandal bigger than Watergate[2][4]. Rolling Stone called the framing groundless and pointed out Trump had already cycled through a string of superlatives about the investigation that week[3]. Fact-checkers at The Washington Post said there was no evidence supporting Spygate but plenty of political motive behind it[7]. Because the word was already trademarked by football fans for Bill Belichick's 2007 videotaping penalty[8], the online joke practically wrote itself. Users overlaid Patriots imagery on Trump's tweets, and critics like writer Seth Abramson mocked the branding as an ironic own-goal[9]. The hashtag #SPYGATE also gave Trump-aligned voices, including YouTube duo Diamond and Silk, a rallying tag to accuse the Obama administration of orchestrating the probe[10]. ## How to Use Spygate is used as shorthand, typically with the all-caps hashtag #SPYGATE, to reference Trump's claim that the FBI illicitly surveilled his 2016 campaign. Supporters often pair it with attacks on the 'Deep State,' while critics commonly deploy it sarcastically alongside Belichick or Patriots imagery to needle the president's borrowed branding[5]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Spygate? Spygate is the label Donald Trump coined in May 2018 for his unverified claim that the FBI planted a spy in his 2016 presidential campaign[2]. ### Where did Spygate come from? Trump introduced it on Twitter on May 23, 2018, days after a New York Times report about FBI informants meeting campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in London[1][4]. ### What does Spygate mean? In Trump's usage it means the theory that federal investigators improperly surveilled his campaign, though The Washington Post said no evidence backed the charge[7]. ### How do you use Spygate? It is used as a hashtag or shorthand for the FBI-spy allegation, often mocked online with references to Bill Belichick and the 2007 NFL Spygate incident[5]. ### Is Spygate still popular? The intense 24-hour spike around May 23, 2018 faded as the Mueller probe continued, but the term stuck as recurring shorthand in conservative media[8]. ## References 1. [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html]() 2. [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/999242039723163648]() 3. [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/what-does-spygate-mean-w520669]() 4. [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/999246677549768704]() 5. [https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/999259084900700160]() 6. [https://twitter.com/Comey/status/999286616744124416]() 7. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/23/there-is-no-evidence-for-spygate-but-there-is-a-reason-that-trump-invented-it/]() 8. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/spygate]() 9. [https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/999297981848354816]() 10. [https://twitter.com/DiamondandSilk/status/999334516526338049]() 11. [http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/05/23/james-comey-responds-president-trumps-spygate-claims-about-russia-probe]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/spygate Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library