Ex-CIA officer refutes Trump on campaign informant: 'This is what the FBI does' if you have a Russian spy on staff

Former CIA officer Robert Baer on Monday disputed President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, after they suggested that the Obama administration had improperly used a confidential informant to spy on the Trump campaign.

Over the weekend, both Trump and Giuliani hyped the news that a confidential informant may have been used in a counter-intelligence investigation involving Trump's campaign. Trump revealed on Sunday that he would "demand" that the Department of Justice investigate itself over "whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes."

Baer told CNN on Monday that Trump and Giuliani were being "disingenuous" about the use of informants.

"The FBI, when it got a lead that [Trump campaign staffer] Carter Page was possibly a Russian agent, at that point was legally obligated to open an investigation, which included putting a tap on his phone," Baer explained. "And also running a confidential informant into Carter Page and a couple of other suspect Russian moles. This is what the FBI does."

"But I guarantee you that the president, President Obama, did not call up the FBI and say, 'Open up a political investigation into Donald Trump,'" the former CIA officer added. "It just did not happen. He's conflating these two things: a counter-intelligence investigation and political dirty tricks."

Baer was also troubled by Trump's embrace of conspiracy theories.

"You have a president that truly believes there is such a thing as a deep state, the FBI is at the center of the deep state and is out to get him," Baer lamented. "There simply has been no evidence brought forth to support that. There is no deep state, of course, but what can you do?"

Watch the video below from CNN.