Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of ‘Nixon/Watergate’ plot to wiretap Trump Tower
President Trump on Saturday angrily accused former president Barack Obama of orchestrating a “Nixon/Watergate” plot to tap the phones at his Trump Tower headquarters last fall in the run-up to the election.
Citing no evidence to support his explosive allegation, Trump said in a series of five tweets sent Saturday morning that Obama was “wire tapping” his New York offices before the election in a move he compared to McCarthyism. “Bad (or sick) guy!” he said of his predecessor, adding that the surveillance resulted in “nothing found.”
…..
Trump offered no citations nor did he point to any credible news report to back up his accusation, but he may have been referring to commentary on Breitbart and conservative talk radio suggesting that Obama and his administration used “police state” tactics last fall to monitor the Trump team. The Breitbart story, published Friday, has been circulating among Trump’s senior staff, according to a White House official who described it as a useful catalogue of the Obama administration’s activities.
A spokesman for Obama did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
….
Trump’s tweets took numerous top White House aides by surprise, according to a second White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Saturday was expected to be a “down day, pretty quiet,” this official said, and there was little, if any, attempt to coordinate the president’s message on the wiretapping allegations.
Here are Trump’s tweets, in the order they were sent:
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
…..
- Discussion
-
Trump claims his phones were tapped. If they were, it means a federal judge found probable cause of foreign activity https://t.co/MuRS36e8oB pic.twitter.com/4QMlJTGUmx
— Mark Berman (@markberman) March 4, 2017
2/ @LouiseMensch broke the news for @heatstreet that a FISA warrant was granted to explore Donald's Russia Ties https://t.co/1q8cR58YO9 pic.twitter.com/ixedz3TuTx
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
3/ The @guardian's @julianborger reported on the FISA warrant again when the Steele dossier news broke in January https://t.co/CZKm9Tam7l pic.twitter.com/CX0PAGTDs7
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
4/ Republicans who have defended surveillance powers are now critical of it especially following Flynn's resignation https://t.co/bRVcxF9jlF pic.twitter.com/PgYLhfj1bQ
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
5/ And just this week Donald's administration announced it had no intention of curtailing FISA https://t.co/5RPG2CP3j4 pic.twitter.com/jXGbWoUqJ2
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
6/ When @LouiseMensch reported on the FISA tap, she included details that implicated Putin's own daughters, Carter Page and Paul Manafort. pic.twitter.com/TgeO9x1NvC
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
7/ This week @SenCoonsOffice suggested the transcripts that the FBI has may prove collusion with Russia. https://t.co/QIAustEs5C
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
8/ Coons has been one of the staunchest critics of surveillance powers, having introduced bills to reign in FISA https://t.co/iJGlzcPayg
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
9/ Back to Donald. Wiretapping him was not illegal, full stop. And it suggests the court had reason to permit it. https://t.co/RZrw5qmgyR
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
10/ Donald's tweets this morning are a helpful reminder that he was under investigation, possibly for espionage. https://t.co/C00LleeOIE
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
11/ We can now conclude that our govt has significant intelligence on Donald and his associates. We need to see it. https://t.co/QIm9WAvkzq
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
12/ Donald can whine about being surveilled, but the reality is we citizens must now demand a special prosecutor and a select committee.
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
13/ Interesting addendum- Donald's tweets this morning may have in fact declassified the existence of the wiretap https://t.co/pk4AdRyXLn
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
14/ @NRO's @AndrewCMcCarthy– a former terrorism prosecutor- considered the implications of using FISA to tap Trump. https://t.co/THnEb1qwEi pic.twitter.com/jIKucyjujS
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) March 4, 2017
Spoke w/ 2 conscientious members of Congress–they're trying to think through institutional & constl implications of what Trump's unleashed.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 4, 2017
Example of institutional crisis: Trump (or Sessions) asks Comey for briefing on origin & status of FBI investigation. What does Comey do?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 4, 2017
Statement from @BarackObama Spox: pic.twitter.com/cIth6KXGlK
— Susan Davis (@DaviSusan) March 4, 2017
Trump likely feels mounting pressure from further revelations of Russia ties and is preparing his core base to dismiss evidence as fake. https://t.co/59LLnsqcvs
— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) March 4, 2017
Trump knows his illegal ties to Moscow will be exposed soon. Hence his panic. He will do anything to save himself. Even provoking civil war.
— John Schindler (@20committee) March 4, 2017
Lindsey Graham explains seriousness of wiretapping claims, whoever is telling the truth: https://t.co/lTxTIVQ5YE
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) March 4, 2017
Sen. Sasse statement: "the President should explain what sort of wiretap it was and how he knows this." pic.twitter.com/De2JqpPpZf
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) March 4, 2017
White House is really seeking access to DoJ warrants? This would be interference with an ongoing investigation https://t.co/YnMITxdO4T pic.twitter.com/OOvYKeEDOv
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) March 4, 2017
No proof, but plenty of paranoia — the hallmark of a dictatorship.
WATCH: Corey Lewandowski accuses the Obama admin of bugging a US Senator's office.
cc: @amandacarpenter @20committee @RadioFreeTom pic.twitter.com/KV3dyKJE7r
— Yashar (@yashar) March 5, 2017
"There was no evidence" of collusion between Trump campaign and Russian officials "at the time," says Fmr. DNI Dir. James Clapper #MTP
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 5, 2017
.@POTUS baseless tapping claim follows familiar if deeply disturbing pattern of distraction, distortion & downright fabrication. Here's how: pic.twitter.com/gfteZUDsxH
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 5, 2017
And tonight, James Comey said he wants a statement from the DOJ disavowing Trump’s accusations; says otherwise the FBI stands accused of criminal activity.
When can we be rid of this crazed president? Nothing has been normal for six weeks.
Has it only been six weeks? It feels more like six years:(
@LouiseMensch @FoxNews here is a link to the interview if you missed it. #spinalwiretap. https://t.co/KacY2PMwhD
— timd'angelo (@timdangelo1) March 7, 2017
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.