ratcliffe has staunchly supported trump's criticism of the investigations into russian interference in the 2016 united states elections, in particular the origins of the investigation, contending "it does appear that there were crimes committed during the obama administration." ratcliffe has stated that he has "seen no evidence" that russian interference in the 2016 election helped get trump elected. he has described court-approved surveillance of the trump campaign as spying. he has claimed without evidence that the russia probe was tainted by a criminal conspiracy.