McCain calls on Trump to back up wire-tapping claim

[webfact]

McCain calls on Trump to back up wire-tapping claim

By Richard Cowan and Jeff Mason

REUTERS

 

U.S. Senator John McCain in Munich, Germany, February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain on Monday called for President Donald Trump to release any evidence supporting his claim the Obama administration wiretapped him while probing Russia's influence in the 2016 election.

 

“I think the president of the United States, if he has any information that would indicate that his predecessor wiretapped Trump Tower, then he should come forward with that information. The American people deserve it,” McCain, a Republican from Arizona, told Reuters.

 

Jason Chaffetz, a Republican lawmaker who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told CBS in an interview on Monday that he had "not seen anything directly that would support what the president has said."

 

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who heads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee looking into allegations Russia meddled in the election, said the panel would be asking both Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and the Justice Department whether he had told the law enforcement agency this weekend to reject Trump's wire-tapping claim.

 

The White House said on Monday that Trump still has confidence in Comey despite his assertiveness in challenging Trump's claim that the administration of former President Barack Obama had wiretapped him.

 

Asked whether Trump still had confidence in Comey, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said, "There’s nothing that I have been told by him that would lead me to believe that anything is different than what it was prior."

 

He was "almost 100 percent certain" Trump had not spoken to Comey since the Republican president made the allegation on Twitter on Saturday. "I'm not aware that that occurred," Spicer told reporters.

 

But, when asked during an early-morning interview on Monday with ABC's "Good Morning America" whether Trump accepted Comey's assertion, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "I don't think he does."

 

The FBI declined to comment on Comey's communications.

 

Trump has given no evidence for his claim that Trump Tower was wiretapped. The allegation is the latest twist in a controversy over ties between Trump associates and Russia that has dogged the early days of his presidency.

 

The wiretapping allegation hit U.S. stocks on Monday. Some investors worried that the affair could distract Trump from his economic agenda of introducing tax cuts and simplifying regulations that has powered a record-setting rally on Wall Street since the election.

 

The lack of detail on Trump's proposals, his isolationist stance and setbacks in filling his Cabinet have made investors question whether the post-election rally has run its course.

 

Democrats accused Trump of making the wiretapping claim to try to distract from controversy about possible links to Russia. His administration is facing FBI and congressional investigations into contacts between members of his campaign team and Russian officials.

 

The White House has asked the Republican-controlled Congress to examine, as part of an ongoing congressional probe into Russia's influence on the election, whether the Obama administration abused its investigative authority.

 

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Richard Cowan, Emily Stephenson and Eric Walsh; Writing by Alistair Bell and Amanda Becker; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-07

[Credo]

The sad thing is that a lot of people were worried about all the baggage that his opponent was carrying and how it would affect her ability to govern.   I know of no President, ever, that has started out with as much baggage and keeps adding more to the load.   

 

This wire-tapping allegation had to come from somewhere and I suspect a whole lot of energy is being expended by people who should be doing other things to get to the bottom of a bag of hot air.   

[geriatrickid]

Good position from  a guy who followed Michelle Obama's mantra of going high when others  went low.  President Deferment is about to get a cup of whoopass from a man who volunteered for  military service and who has served his country ever since. Battle veterans don't take kindly to pretend soldiers . It must eat at his heart and soul to see President Deferment wearing an admiral's jacket while on board a USN ship talkin  tough BS. How he manages to control his contempt after being ridiculed for being a POW speaks to his personal discipline.

[Merzik]

Levin cites 7 liberal MSM sources  ( NYT, Guardian...) that admit obama did just that. McCain is out of his mind.

https://youtu.be/GjToGCWpm-g

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, Merzik said:

Levin cites 7 liberal MSM sources  ( NYT, Guardian...) that admit obama did just that. McCain is out of his mind.

https://youtu.be/GjToGCWpm-g

It's been debunked.  Nothing but click bait stuff and you fell for it.

 

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/mar/05/sarah-huckabee-sanders/why-white-houses-defense-trump-accusing-obama-wire/
 

Quote

 

Sanders said "multiple news outlets" have reported that Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump, including high-profile sources such as the New York Times and BBC.

 

Trump’s team cited multiple reports to back up this claim, but it’s clear only one is at the root of Trump’s claim: a November 2016 blog post based on anonymous sources that has not been corroborated by independent U.S. journalists. 

 

We rate this claim False.

 

 

[andersonat]

3 hours ago, Merzik said:

Levin cites 7 liberal MSM sources  ( NYT, Guardian...) that admit obama did just that. McCain is out of his mind.

https://youtu.be/GjToGCWpm-g

 

Is this your first experience with Fake News ?

[Emster23]

I'm a liberal and I've generally liked McCain (won't say 100%, but enough). He has virtues that seem to be lacking among his fellow Republicans.

[bkkcanuck8]

1 hour ago, Emster23 said:

I'm a liberal and I've generally liked McCain (won't say 100%, but enough). He has virtues that seem to be lacking among his fellow Republicans.

There are very few politicians on either side that has a rather firm set of virtues .....

[malibukid]

i to consider myself a liberal but found Trumps denigration of Senator McCain shameful. i was against the war in Vietnam but have respected his service to his country. and consider him a hero.  we need people like him in the Senate now more than ever. a voice of reason amongst the cacophony of the  current administration. 

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, Merzik said:

Levin cites 7 liberal MSM sources  ( NYT, Guardian...) that admit obama did just that. McCain is out of his mind.

https://youtu.be/GjToGCWpm-g

You really believe this stuff?   Clutching at straws springs to mind.

[riclag]

Trump is a genius . Of course Obama didn't wiretap him or his people,.So the claims of "all MSM" where debunked .MSM have been fake reporting and claiming fake news since June of 2016 that "American Sources" have reported many intel agencies are investigating wiretap reports. Now we have heard Clapper and Comey flat out deny it.So now we can also come to the conclusion that there was no collusion because there is no evidence.  So lets MAGA ,bring on the Tax cuts.

Edited March 7, 2017 by riclag

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, riclag said:

Trump is a genius . Of course Obama didn't wiretap him or his people,.So the claims of "all MSM" where debunked .MSM have been fake reporting and claiming fake news since June of 2016 that "American Sources" have reported many intel agencies are investigating wiretap reports. Now we have heard Clapper and Comey flat out deny it.So now we can also come to the conclusion that there was no collusion because there is no evidence.  So lets MAGA ,bring on the Tax cuts.

That's what we are waiting for.  MAGA.  When is that going to start? LOL

[riclag]

2 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

That's what we are waiting for.  MAGA.  When is that going to start? LOL

I am  a  American .It started on January 20th 2017. thank god

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, riclag said:

I am  a  American .It started on January 20th 2017. thank god

So am I.  And all we've had so far are problems.  Nothing of significance has happened. Thus, the lowest approval ratings of almost any US president ever at this time.

 

I'm waiting.

[riclag]

1 minute ago, craigt3365 said:

So am I.  And all we've had so far are problems.  Nothing of significance has happened. Thus, the lowest approval ratings of almost any US president ever at this time.

 

I'm waiting.

Good be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day.Its going to be hell trying to undo Clinton,Bush's and Obama's global nightmare and domestic rape of our institution. Enough said. god speed

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, riclag said:

Good be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day.Its going to be hell trying to undo Clinton,Bush's and Obama's global nightmare and domestic rape of our institution. Enough said. god speed

I spent a fair amount of time in Trump's city.  Manhattan.  You don't get much time to get stuff done there.  Rome would have never made it in Manhattan! LOL  Man up, get something done.   Quit wasting taxpayer dollars with silly investigations.

[riclag]

2 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

I spent a fair amount of time in Trump's city.  Manhattan.  You don't get much time to get stuff done there.  Rome would have never made it in Manhattan! LOL  Man up, get something done.   Quit wasting taxpayer dollars with silly investigations.

I agree, now if the Liberals and the neo conservatives  can agree to that and get on with what the Electorate voted for......

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, riclag said:

I agree, now if the Liberals and the neo conservatives  can agree to that and get on with what the Electorate voted for......

Maybe if the Republicans helped Obama during his last 4 years, the Democrats would be willing to do the same.  Politics at it's worst.

[darksidedog]

If there is such a wealth of evidence out there, why are we not seeing any?

Vague news reports quoting other news reports and anonymous sources is not evidence people.

Especially given the far right wing and biased opinions, much of those reports and unnamed sources came from.

FISA Documents and court rulings, with applicants details and the reason requested, along with the person/s to be monitored, with reasons, are.

Oh! But you dont have any of those do you? Or we would have seen them by now.

 

[Andaman Al]

All of this is just a distraction to stop journo's looking in to the Russian scandal. Look what happened to day - what a coincidence, wiki leaks release 7000 CIA documents - what a coincidence! Assange thinks Trump will set him free, but Assange will now die of old age in the Equador embassy.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wikileaks-cia-vault-7-julian-assange-year-zero-documents-download-spying-secrets-a7616031.html

 

And now he also attacks the French Presidential candidates. Assange is running out of friends and is a dead man walking.http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wikileaks-french-presidential-candidates-election-release-thousands-documents-frontrunners-marine-le-a7558941.html

 

Journalists please ignore all this, ignore Bannon and Trumps tweets, just stick on the Russian stuff!

 

[derator01]

A post with a Tweet image has been removed from view.  In the future, please give the link.  Not just an image of the Tweet. 

[mesquite]

Hey McCain...

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=379992295705174&id=364097883961282&pnref=story

[andersonat]

12 hours ago, mesquite said:

Hey McCain...

 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=379992295705174&id=364097883961282&pnref=story

Bannon - "We are absolutely positive Obama wire-tapped us during the election. We are absolutely not going to reveal our sources and methods for how we discovered this, not only would it put lives in danger but it would give up the upper hand we currently have in this situation."

 

*

 

Translation: "We're not going to provide *any* evidence in support of DT's statements."

 

 - This just isn't good enough.

 

 

[boomerangutang]

On 3/7/2017 at 6:06 PM, riclag said:

I am  a  American .It started on January 20th 2017. thank god

What started?  Oh yea, almost forgot, the chaos, lies and screw-ups of the short-lived Trump administration.  Well, at least late night talk hosts don't need writers any more.  All they have to do is directly quote any of Trump's tweets, and they get snickers and laughter from the audiences.  Trump is the court jester of presidents, if a jester was as dangerous as he was clunky.

 

On 3/7/2017 at 6:16 PM, riclag said:

Good be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day.Its going to be hell trying to undo Clinton,Bush's and Obama's global nightmare and domestic rape of our institution. Enough said. god speed

Well Bush Jr started 2 wars, and there was a near-depression on his watch.  Clinton developed a budget surplus, and Obama did a lot of things right, he's a gentleman, and wildly more popular & respected than Trump will ever be.

 

On 3/7/2017 at 6:22 PM, craigt3365 said:

I spent a fair amount of time in Trump's city.  Manhattan.  You don't get much time to get stuff done there.  Rome would have never made it in Manhattan! LOL  Man up, get something done.   Quit wasting taxpayer dollars with silly investigations.

.......and wasting taxpayer money on security / travel for Melania and the kids.  In his first 3 weeks, more has been spent on the Trumps than the Obamas spent in an entire year.   Trump doesn't even pay taxes, so he avoids any contribution to the costly excesses for his family.

[geriatrickid]

On 3/7/2017 at 6:16 AM, riclag said:

Good be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day.Its going to be hell trying to undo Clinton,Bush's and Obama's global nightmare and domestic rape of our institution. Enough said. god speed

Rome may not have been built in a day, but Nero destroyed it one day.

Considering Trump's multiple infidelities, fondness for gauche garish decor, self worship and debauchery, I believe he has much in common with Nero. 

[rijb]

Perhaps the wiretap was for someone else and Trump got caught in the crossfire.  Any stories in MSM about that possibility?

[jerojero]

Glad some Republicans honest enough to challenge Trumps lies!

[craigt3365]

45 minutes ago, rijb said:

Perhaps the wiretap was for someone else and Trump got caught in the crossfire.  Any stories in MSM about that possibility?

It's funny that before Trump stated calling all news "fake", I never really watched live news.  Now, I watch it every day!  He just does sooooo many silly things. 

 

I watched last night and today and so far, no evidence at all of any wire taps.  Quite the contrary, lots of experts coming out and saying it's pretty much impossible Obama did this or even that it ever happened.  For some of Trump's associates?  Probably as they've already been caught talking with Russian officials.  Huge mess he created here.  He was sooo happy with Russia before the elections, but probably not so much now.  It's overshadowing his agenda.