Stephen Miller isn't mincing words: the Russia collusion narrative was no political misunderstanding - it was "a coup," a "seditious conspiracy," and "one egregious felony after another."
The White House deputy chief of staff joined "Sunday Morning Futures" this week, where he unloaded on Democrats allegedly behind the years-long "conspiracy" to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.
"This was a coup," Miller declared. "And I'm using that term literally."
He accused top intelligence officials and Democratic leaders - including Hillary Clinton, James Clapper, and James Comey - of orchestrating a campaign to topple a duly-elected president.
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Beyond political motives, Miller claimed the scheme meets legal thresholds for a trio of serious charges.
"It meets all of the criminal elements of a seditious conspiracy against the United States. It meets the criminal element of an insurrection. It meets criminal elements against the government and the criminal elements of the conspiracy to deprive citizens of their civil rights under cover of law," he said.
"[It's] one egregious felony after another."
And now, he said, is "the time... for accountability."
The simmering issue came to a boil last month when DNI Tulsi Gabbard unleashed claims that the Trump-Russia collusion narrative that followed the 2016 presidential election originated with leading Democrats and members of the intelligence community.
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Gabbard alleged former President Barack Obama and members of his administration, including James Clapper and John Brennan, promoted a "contrived narrative" that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump, which led to the sprawling collusion investigation that consumed Trump's presidency. Trump has described the alleged actions by Obama, Clapper, Brennan and Comey as "serious treason."
Clapper and Brennan fired back at the Trump administration's claims in a guest essay for The New York Times, writing: "That is patently false. In making those allegations, they seek to rewrite history. We want to set the record straight and, in doing so, sound a warning."
The pair continued, "While some external critiques have noted that parts of the Russia investigation could have been handled better, multiple, thorough, years-long reviews of the assessment have validated its findings and the rigor of its analysis," arguing the most "noteworthy" example was the bipartisan Senate Intelligence report on the investigation.
Neither Comey nor a representative for Clinton responded to Fox News Digital's prior requests for comment on the matter.
Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for Obama, fired back at the Trump administration's allegations in a rare statement last month.
"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," he said in a statement. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one."
"These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction," the Obama spokesman continued. "Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes."
He added: "These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio."
