FBI Director Comey asked Justice officials to refute Trump unproved wiretapping claim

[webfact]

FBI Director Comey asked Justice officials to refute Trump unproved wiretapping claim

By Abby Phillip and Ellen Nakashima

The Washington Post

 

WASHINGTON: -- FBI Director James B. Comey asked the Justice Department this weekend to issue a statement refuting President Trump’s claim that President Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump’s phones before the election, according a U.S. official, but the department has not done so.

 

Comey made the highly unusual request on Saturday after Trump accused Obama on Twitter of having his “‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower.”

 

The revelation, first reported by The New York Times, underscores the fraught nature of the FBI’s high-profile investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. A key question fueling the probe is whether Trump associates colluded with Russian officials to help Trump win.

 

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

 

-- The Washington Post 2017-03-06

[selftaopath]

When will Republican Trump defenders admit he is unfit to be in any government position. He is clearly delusional, but his aim to be U.S. dictator remains steadfast. He has no moral compass or desire to abide by rule of law. In his mind he is ABOVE the law - or perhaps he is the law. 

[sirineou]

By asking the DOJ to refute this claim, Comey is in essence  indirectly refuting it himself.

I guess if Trump persists,  will then be accusing Obama of a criminal offence and better have some evidence to back it up with.

I wonder if Obama has grounds to sue Trump for defamation of character.

 

[WaywardWind]

1 hour ago, selftaopath said:

When will Republican Trump defenders admit he is unfit to be in any government position.

I often think about this - what exactly will be a bridge too far for even his staunchest supporters, and what then will be their reaction?  Wherever that line is, and whatever the extent of their reaction, we can be sure it will not be pretty.

[darksidedog]

"Trump's tweets early Saturday may have been prompted by the comments of a conservative radio host, which were summarized in an article on the conservative website Breitbart. The Breitbart story had been circulating among Trump's senior aides on Friday. "

So, some dumb right wing conspiracy nut job, spouts pure conjecture, Breitbart reports on his comments, and Donald instantly believes it all must have happened!

As with before, when he claims he saw a report on FOX, which led him to say something equally dumb.

A President really needs a better quality source of information, than a lying propaganda machine, and you would like to think any President worthy of the name would understand that.

Oh, Yeah! We're talking about Donald aren't we? Expect more of the same until impeachment day.

[Emster23]

36 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

"Trump's tweets early Saturday may have been prompted by the comments of a conservative radio host, which were summarized in an article on the conservative website Breitbart. The Breitbart story had been circulating among Trump's senior aides on Friday. "

So, some dumb right wing conspiracy nut job, spouts pure conjecture, Breitbart reports on his comments, and Donald instantly believes it all must have happened!

As with before, when he claims he saw a report on FOX, which led him to say something equally dumb.

A President really needs a better quality source of information, than a lying propaganda machine, and you would like to think any President worthy of the name would understand that.

Oh, Yeah! We're talking about Donald aren't we? Expect more of the same until impeachment day.

Hey Donald, don't you now Breitbart is "fake news"? Just ask your security advisor Mr Bannon.... uh, well, maybe someone else this time

 

[craigt3365]

The guy in charge of wire taps at the time said it never happened.  Trump's trying to deflect from the Sessions problem. 

 

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."

 

 

[tuktuktuk]

Why doesn't Comey do it himself?  He wasn't hesitant to sidestep the hierarchy when he besmirched HRC. 

[KKr]

2 hours ago, WaywardWind said:

I often think about this - what exactly will be a bridge too far for even his staunchest supporters, and what then will be their reaction?  Wherever that line is, and whatever the extent of their reaction, we can be sure it will not be pretty.

Agree, the "Bridge too Far" will be reached when the bridges on the road back to "regular government" have been burned.

[spidermike007]

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.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

So, some dumb right wing conspiracy nut job, spouts pure conjecture, Breitbart reports on his comments, and Donald instantly believes it all must have happened!

As with before, when he claims he saw a report on FOX, which led him to say something equally dumb.

A President really needs a better quality source of information, than a lying propaganda machine, and you would like to think any President worthy of the name would understand that.

Oh, Yeah! We're talking about Donald aren't we? Expect more of the same until impeachment day.

 

Well said, well said.

[scorecard]

8 minutes ago, KKr said:

Agree, the "Bridge too Far" will be reached when the bridges on the road back to "regular government" have been burned.

 

Nice comment.

[Stargeezr]

Looks like the FBI director is a staunch Democrat.

Geezer

[Becker]

27 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Looks like the FBI director is a staunch Democrat.

Geezer

So you equate speaking the truth with being a democrat?

[otherstuff1957]

1 hour ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Looks like the FBI director is a staunch Democrat.

Geezer

Comey was a registered Republican.  As head of the FBI, he is supposed to be non-partisan and has stated that he is no longer a member of any political party.

 

So, is he a Democrat now or a Republican?  I suspect that the answer is "which way is the wind blowing?"

Edited March 6, 2017 by otherstuff1957

[Grouse]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

By asking the DOJ to refute this claim, Comey is in essence  indirectly refuting it himself.

I guess if Trump persists,  will then be accusing Obama of a criminal offence and better have some evidence to back it up with.

I wonder if Obama has grounds to sue Trump for defamation of character.

 

I don't think Obama is actually defamed! 

 

Nobody believes this

 

Trump has defamed himself 

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, Becker said:

So you equate speaking the truth with being a democrat?

Stargrazer is a bit too much like his hero...which is to say, a bit cuckoo.

 

 

[Grouse]

Trump is so far off the wall that his supporters just come across as nuts!

[Thaidream]

This is the same FBI Director who a few days prior to the vote stated they found more emails on clinton's assistants laptop that would need investigation- Trump thought he was wonderful.

Now the Director seems to be saying there was no wiretapping and he would know because that is what the FBI does and to get a wiretap like that he would need a court order and show probable cause. In either case Trump is either lying or there was probable cause to suspect him of a crime.

This man is a disaster as President and as a human being. He just refuses to stop and do his job. He gets into a fight with the press; he belittles the Australian Prime Minister; he talks disrespectfully of  Senator McCain- a member of his own party and a war hero. He just seems to want to fight with everyone or anyone who does not completely adhere to his agenda. I just can't see him remaining as President for 4 years. If he does, he will be voted out of office overwhelmingly but he will do a lot of damage in the interim.

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, tuktuktuk said:

Why doesn't Comey do it himself?  He wasn't hesitant to sidestep the hierarchy when he besmirched HRC. 

           Comey should be fired for what he unfairly did to HRC's campaign.  Despicable.   Sending a letter to all Congressional members re; emails by Weiner that neither he nor anyone in the FBI had seen, while concurrently insinuating that there were untoward emails by HRC in Weiner's stash.  Comey is as much of a scoundrel as anyone in the Oval Office.   If he had done that to Trump's campaign, he would have been sued by Trump for 50 million $$'s.  

 

            Maybe he has a tiny vestigenal vertibrae, in asking Justice Dept to do the right thing, but why didn't Comey himself step up and say loudly that Trump is full of diversionary kaka? 

[darksidedog]

Looking at the amount of damage Donald is doing to America already, you could almost be forgiven, for believing he is actually, a Russian agent, put in place to bring the country to their knees.

It would certainly explain the wild behaviour.

[Thaidream]

I agree completely- his actions (Comey)on the so  called emails and the timing were at the least incompetence at its worst. I think he is wishy washy. Why defer to the Justice Department when he knows damn well there was no wiretap because the FBI is the one who would have been doing it and there would have to be a court order. Better yet- Why hasn't Trump produced the copy of the court order if it exists- simple- it never happened- and if it did- the court order would show the reason for the tap and the only reason a judge would agree to it- would be probable cause of a crime.

Mr Trump has got himself boxed in and I hope he sweats because he is a serial liar.Keep tweeting your nonsense Donald- your own words will be your undoing.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Thaidream

[up-country_sinclair]

This outcome was entirely too predictable.  It was obvious from the very beginning that he was unfit for the office of the presidency.  The only question now is how much damage he will do before he is out of office.

[Thakkar]

5 hours ago, WaywardWind said:

I often think about this - what exactly will be a bridge too far for even his staunchest supporters, and what then will be their reaction?  Wherever that line is, and whatever the extent of their reaction, we can be sure it will not be pretty.

They will refute him if he ever shows genuine compassion and in a heartfelt way professes the inclusive nature of what makes America great and apologizes sincerely for his previous promotion of racist birthirism. THAT would be a bridge too far for them.

 

T

[Thakkar]

1 hour ago, Thaidream said:

This man is a disaster as President

Just imagine how much MORE unhinged he would be if he didn't take a tax-payer funded $3m golfing vacation every weekend.

 

T

[selftaopath]

42 minutes ago, Thakkar said:

Just imagine how much MORE unhinged he would be if he didn't take a tax-payer funded $3m golfing vacation every weekend.

 

T

Yea and he and the other Republicans bitched and moaned about anything/everything Obama. What hypocrites.

[ourmanflint]

6 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

The guy in charge of wire taps at the time said it never happened.  Trump's trying to deflect from the Sessions problem. 

 

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

 

 

FISA warrant was asked for there times in 2016 and granted in October 2016. So what Tapper and Comey are really saying is

 

"we asked for a warrant 3 times to tap Trump, but when we got it, we never used it"

 

 

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

FISA warrant was asked for there times in 2016 and granted in October 2016. So what Tapper and Comey are really saying is

 

"we asked for a warrant 3 times to tap Trump, but when we got it, we never used it"

 

 

From what I've read, these taps had nothing to do with Trump.  But might have been for his staff.  It's not 100% known just yet.  Either way, abide by the rules and you won't get in trouble.   One reason Manafort was let go, Flynn resigned and Sessions has recused himself!  The dots are starting to connect.

[Briggsy]

5 hours ago, tuktuktuk said:

Why doesn't Comey do it himself?  He wasn't hesitant to sidestep the hierarchy when he besmirched HRC. 

The FBI is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. Since the DoJ has refused to get involved, he has effectively done what you suggested. A DoJ refuting of the claims would be more appropriate and carry more weight.

 

The difference between this case and the Clinton case is in the Clinton case there was an active investigation, in the Trump case this is just a crazy citizen, who happens to be president, making wild unsubstantiated accusations about a previous president and the FBI. 2 very different situations.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Briggsy

[dunroaming]

8 hours ago, darksidedog said:

A President really needs a better quality source of information, than a lying propaganda machine, and you would like to think any President worthy of the name would understand that.

Problem for President Trump is that he believes the official information source for a president (that will be the FBI and CIA) are all out to get him so he cannot trust them.  So he has to turn to the media who, according to him are all out to get him too.  But wait! There is the right wing nutcases media that will say what he wants to hear so let's believe them.

Edited March 6, 2017 by dunroaming
Inappropriate reference to the president removed