Exclusive: Trump Blames “Russia Hoax” for Ukraine War

Former President Donald Trump blamed congressional efforts to investigate his presidential campaign’s ties to Russia for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year, saying that “mass hysteria” stoked by the investigation had been partly responsible for driving Russia to a conflict that could now lead to World War III. In a Monday op-ed in Newsweek, Trump accused his political enemies of a plot to bring him down through the “Russiagate” probe, citing a special counsel report published in May that concluded the investigation should never have been launched by the FBI. Trump’s comments come as he campaigns to become the…