White House asks Congress to probe Trump's accusation of Obama wiretap

[webfact]

White House asks Congress to probe Trump's accusation of Obama wiretap

By John Whitesides and James Oliphant

REUTERS

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) greets President-elect Donald Trump at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as president on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House asked the U.S. Congress on Sunday to examine whether the Obama administration abused its investigative authority during the 2016 campaign, as part of an ongoing congressional probe into Russia's influence on the election.

 

The request came a day after President Donald Trump alleged, without supporting evidence, that then-President Obama ordered a wiretap of the phones at Trump's campaign headquarters in Trump Tower in New York.

 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump and administration officials would have no further comment on the issue until Congress has completed its probe, potentially heading off attempts to get Trump to explain his accusations.

 

"Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling," Spicer said in a statement.

 

U.S. Representative Devin Nunes, head of the House Intelligence Committee examining possible links between Russia and Trump's campaign, said in a statement on Sunday that any possible surveillance on campaign officials would be part of the probe.

 

Trump made the wiretapping accusation in a series of early morning tweets on Saturday amid expanding scrutiny of his campaign's ties to Russia. An Obama spokesman denied the charge, saying it was "a cardinal rule" that no White House official interfered with independent Justice Department investigations.

 

Under U.S. law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance is an "agent of a foreign power" in order to approve a warrant authorizing electronic surveillance of Trump Tower.

 

"There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate or against his campaign," former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who left the office at the end of Obama's term, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

 

The White House offered no evidence on Sunday to back up Trump's accusation and did not say it was true.

 

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said Trump has "made very clear what he believes, and he's asking that we get down to the bottom of this. Let's get the truth here."

 

Democrats accused Trump of trying to distract from the rising controversy about possible ties to Russia. His administration has come under pressure from Federal Bureau of Investigation and House and Senate congressional investigations into contacts between members of his campaign team and Russian officials.

 

'EARLY STAGES OF INVESTIGATION'

 

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida resort, said in his tweets on Saturday that the alleged wiretapping took place in his Trump Tower office and apartment building in New York, but there was "nothing found."

 

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump had either made a false accusation, or a judge had found probable cause to authorize a wiretap.

 

"Either way, the president's in trouble," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press," adding that if Trump was spreading misinformation, "it shows this president doesn't know how to conduct himself."

 

Clapper said "there was no evidence" of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in a January intelligence report concluding Russian interference in the 2016 election, but "this could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left government."

 

Trump should immediately turn over any evidence he has to support his allegation, said U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

 

"What we need to deal with is evidence, not just statements," she said on CBS's "Face the Nation," adding she also had not seen evidence of collaboration "but we are in the very early stages of our investigation."

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions bowed out last week of any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election after it emerged he met last year with Russia's ambassador, although he maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose the meeting.

Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned in February after revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office.

 

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary under President Obama, said the president did not have the authority to unilaterally order a wiretap of a U.S. citizen.

 

"The president was not giving marching orders to the FBI about how to conduct its investigation," he said on ABC.

 

(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Mary Milliken)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-06

[Somtamnication]

What a circus!

[lifeincnx]

2 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

What a circus!

Not really. After all, a circus is well-organized.

[darksidedog]

16 minutes ago, lifeincnx said:

Not really. After all, a circus is well-organized.

Yes, but normally the circus isn't being run by a clown.

[craigt3365]

Trump is trying to deflect from the problems he's having.  There was no wiretapping.  Next.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/05/politics/white-house-spicer-congress-2016/index.html

Quote

 

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, a career intelligence official who had oversight of the US intelligence community in that role, said Sunday that Trump was not wiretapped by intelligence agencies nor did the FBI obtain a court order through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor Trump's phones.

 

"For the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no wiretap activity mounted against the President-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign," Clapper said Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press."

 

 

[wreckingcountry]

The USA political situation makes Thailands look sane! Crazy lot. The paranoid lunatic in the WH with his party in congress not giving a shit!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[spidermike007]

The reality TV show continues. Come to Barnum and Bailey Ringling Brothers Circus. The greatest show on earth!

 

Trump appears to be losing focus. I think he is missing the big picture, and is losing his ability to manage his team. He started this war with the media. Now, he is frustrated that they are ganging up on him. This is a very thin skinned man, who has a very hard time dealing with criticism, or people who do not adhere completely to his bizarre doctrine, and view of the universe. He literally just makes stuff up as he goes along. And often that gets him in trouble. This latest rant about Obama wiretaps is even more bizarre than usual. What is the point of it? What did he think it would accomplish? Did he really think it would distract from the Russia firestorm he created? 

 

The development came as Trump's charge against Obama — leveled without any evidence — was being rebuffed both inside and outside of the executive branch. It drew a blunt, on-the-record denial by a top intelligence official who served in the Obama administration. Speaking on NBC News on Sunday morning, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. denied that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) wiretap was authorized against Trump or the campaign during his tenure.“There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign,” Clapper said on “Meet the Press,” adding that he would “absolutely” have been informed if the FBI had received a FISA warrant against either. “I can deny it,” Clapper said emphatically.

[wreckingcountry]

And the narcissist calls the former president "sick"! From the sickest person to hold the office. Makes Nixon look quite stable !


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[klauskunkel]

Quote

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appearing on ABC's "This Week," said Trump has "made very clear what he believes, and he's asking that we get down to the bottom of this. Let's get the truth here."

And on next week's "This Week" Trump's beliefs will feature a different aspect of his paranoia cum vanity cum twitter mania personalty disorder. Boring already 

[lifeincnx]

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Yes, but normally the circus isn't being run by a clown.

Touché!

 

[joecoolfrog]

Can Obama sue Trump ?

[Jingthing]

9 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

What a circus!

That's what you get when you elect a CLOWN as president.

 

Sad.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Americans, especially republicans because they have the POWER, need to step up and put country over party, and get this mistake REMOVED from the oval office. 

[dunroaming]

It is astonishing how bizarre Trump has become, completely out of control and virtually frothing at the mouth.

 

There are parallels with Nixon but Trump is way ahead of him on the lunacy meter.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, dunroaming said:

It is astonishing how bizarre Trump has become, completely out of control and virtually frothing at the mouth.

 

There are parallels with Nixon but Trump is way ahead of him on the lunacy meter.

It's bizarre but predictable. Did the people not watch his Mussolini style rallies? Did they not realize he's been ranting insanely on twitter for several years now? Did they not realize he started his political career based on a totally false and racist conspiracy theory, the "birther" movement, and led that crazy racist movement for several years until the moment it no longer benefited him with his hard core white nationalist base?

Come on now, Americans messed up. It's time to fix this mistake. 

[Jingthing]

Hopefully, now the darkly farcical trump regime is starting to totally fall apart. The sooner the better. Enough damage has already been done to American democracy by his movement. Not sure how much more it can take before it's crushed permanently. 

 

 

Quote

 

The Trump Experiment may come to an early tipping point

Trump seems to assume that the truth doesn’t matter anymore, that a leader just needs enough voters to believe the “alternative facts” his side invents.

If there is any good news here, it’s this: Alternative facts can take you only so far. A president can’t just make up charges against his predecessor, call him a “bad (or sick) guy,” and then get away with it.

Can he?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-experiment-may-come-to-an-early-tipping-point/2017/03/05/87d38b3a-0055-11e7-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html

[Srikcir]

45 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

Can Obama sue Trump ?

For defamation one has to prove harm or damage.

If anything Obama's presidential legacy probably improved 50% with Trump's massive presidential incompetence.

[DM07]

He is just making up 5h1t, as he goes along.

Just to distract from all 5h1t under shoes of those, he put into office and from all the lunacy, that is now called "the American presedency"!

I really, seriously ask myself, how any of his supporters can still go "Yup...that's my guy!"

Edited March 6, 2017 by DM07

[Srikcir]

FBI Director James B. Comey asked the Justice Department this weekend to issue a statement refuting President Trump’s claim that President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump’s phones before the election, according to U.S. officials, but the department did not do so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/03/05/trump-seeks-congressional-probe-into-politically-motivated-investigation-during-2016-campaign/?utm_term=.d0562f3b0abb

 

I'm sure Session does not want to deliver that message to Trump.

But it's hard to circle the wagons when they go missing.

[Jingthing]

People -- this is SERIOUS.

Definitely the biggest political crisis in modern American history.

Makes Nixon's Watergate seem like child's play.

trump isn't going to be easy to remove but he MUST be removed!

There is ZERO hope he will magically become SANE. 

Americans must face up to this mistake and get cracking to make America OK again by removing the clown demagogue in the oval office. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-charge-that-he-was-wiretapped-takes-presidency-into-new-territory/2017/03/05/7ce64578-01bd-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html

Quote

“We have as president a man who is erratic, vindictive, volatile, obsessive, a chronic liar, and prone to believe in conspiracy theories,” said conservative commentator Peter Wehner, who was the top policy strategist in George W. Bush’s White House. “And you can count on the fact that there will be more to come, since when people like Donald Trump gain power they become less, not more, restrained.”

 

 

[mesquite]

Once again President Trump is laying a trap.  He is exposing Obama's attempted coup d'état.

[craigt3365]

Just now, mesquite said:

Once again President Trump is laying a trap.  He is exposing Obama's attempted coup d'état.

Links please....

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, mesquite said:

Once again President Trump is laying a trap.  He is exposing Obama's attempted coup d'état.

Thanks for showing how hard core trump supporters are probably reacting to trump's insane tweets. He knows he has this base. They are a minority. He's leading us to CIVIL WAR. 

[mesquite]

2 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Links please....

Just my speculation, similar to my previous speculations that Trump would win the nomination and then the presidency.

[dunroaming]

When Trump became Captain of the USS USA and set sail with his unqualified and unfit crew we knew that he would be sailing into uncharted waters.  Many thought he would head straight for the abyss and it seems that is the case. Some of the passengers (the American public) headed straight for the ballroom and started celebrating.  Some though immediately put on the lifejackets and started queuing beside the lifeboats.  As time goes by more people are joining the lifeboat queue although there are still a few dancing and drinking away not aware of the rapidly approaching abyss.

 

Of course many of the lifejacket clad people are calling out to the ballroom revellers to come and join them but all that happens is that they turn up the music and open another bottle.

[Pakboong]

 

[craigt3365]

16 minutes ago, mesquite said:

Just my speculation, similar to my previous speculations that Trump would win the nomination and then the presidency.

Not exactly the same.  One is a proven historical fact.  The other is not.

[darksidedog]

10 minutes ago, mesquite said:

I should have been more specific in my earlier response.  The trap part is my speculation.  The coup part is SOLID.

 

http://www.dickmorris.com/obama-attempting-coup-detat-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports

What an absolute whacko. Rarely, if ever, have I heard such utter twaddle. And this is your evidence? Of a Coup D'Etat? Seriously? It's Laughable.

When Trump is impeached, it will not hand the Presidency to Obama, or even to the Democrats. It goes to the  Republican V.P. No one can change that. Not even Obama with a magic hat.

Additionally Obama has served two terms. That's it, finished. Can't come back.

Sorry, but this post sums up everything that is wrong with the mindset in Donalds fanatical supporters, who believe every story about the terrible Democrats, regardless of how crazy.

Focus on the issues of the day, which are numerous and stop looking for a conspiracy in every cupboard.

We've got an idiot at the helm already, not going to help if the crew go crazy too.

 

[Silurian]

53 minutes ago, mesquite said:

Once again President Trump is laying a trap.  He is exposing Obama's attempted coup d'état.

 

17 minutes ago, mesquite said:

I should have been more specific in my earlier response.  The trap part is my speculation.  The coup part is SOLID.

 

http://www.dickmorris.com/obama-attempting-coup-detat-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports

 

I guess between the kite-surfing vacation and the multi-million dollar book deal, Obama has found some time to plan a coup. Those supporters of the fraudulent POTUS are really scraping the bottom of the barrel this time.

 

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/barack-obamas-postpresidential-life-is-a-world-away-from-his-eight-years-in-the-white-house/news-story/ca92ad42121f9dede79d46d6d24be112

 

[nuakmuaynina]

He's clutching at straws becuae he cannot understand why he is so unpopular... It is everyone else fault but his own... 

 

what a clown!Sad!