Did Obama Surveil Trump? Sure Looks That Way
Domestic Spying: Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says that the Obama administration surveilled Donald Trump's transition aides and possibly Trump himself following November's election. If true, it warrants a major investigation.
"I recently confirmed that on numerous occasions the intelligence community ... collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition," Nunes told reporters.
Nunes immediately came under intense criticism from congressional Democrats for his revelations. What's both hilarious and sad is that these are the very same Democrats who have been nearly silent as a series of illegal leaks from the intelligence bureaucracy have made their way into the mainstream media, in a transparent attempt by unnamed intelligence officials to damage Trump's presidency.
Nunes, speaking Wednesday and citing only "sources," was careful to note that the surveillance of Trump aides appeared to be both legal and "incidental" — that is, not part of a directed spying operation on Trump.
Of course, that appears to be literally true. But it's also irrelevant. Democrats and the media keep mentioning the word "incidental" as if it exonerates what now appears to be a domestic spying operation against Trump directed from the Obama White House.
"Incidental" doesn't mean unintentional. Take as an example the leaks of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's conversations in late December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Those talks have been treated as sinister, with the Washington Post even suggesting that they were a violation of the Logan Act, a possible serious crime.
But U.S. intelligence gatherers could quite easily get an "incidental" trove of material on Flynn, simply by getting a surveillance warrant on someone they knew he was likely to talk to. Presto! The information on Flynn talking to the target becomes "incidental," rather than targeted. Still, the intent was clear.
The fact is, as Nunes revealed, this appears to be a pattern of surveillance put in place by the Obama administration and possibly officials in the FBI, CIA or National Security Agency to elude any appearance of a domestic spying operation on a political foe, which would be a serious crime.
Some of President Trump's calls with foreign leaders have likewise been leaked. By whom? For what purpose? This is clearly illegal behavior, and calls into question the reliability and loyalty of the entire intelligence community. Why are the Democrats not furious at this, as they would be if it were one of their own who was targeted?
Nunes was careful to note that the surveillance activities did not appear to be related to the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia in the last election. So the question remains: What were they doing?
We know that the investigation into Trump's campaign and Russia is real, since it was confirmed earlier this week by FBI Director James Comey himself. Comey, during his testimony, was clear and emphatic in saying President Trump's explosive tweets of two weeks ago accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower had no basis in fact.
"I have no information that supports those tweets," Comey told the committee. Besides, Comey added, no president could order a wiretapping operation against a specific citizen. That takes a court order.
True enough. But again, wiretapping is a term that to the government means one thing: The gathering of information from a specific telephone. What about a warrant for surveillance of a third party in order to catch a party unnamed in the warrant?
Back when they thought it might destroy Trump, the New York Times, Britain's Guardian, the BBC and McClatchy News Service all reported on President Obama's expanded use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to investigate Trump's team.
This isn't far-fetched at all. As John Nolte of the Daily Wire has noted, "In order to spy on James Rosen of Fox News, Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder named him as a criminal co-conspirator and, quite incredibly, a flight risk. This gave the Obama administration 'legal' access not only to Rosen's emails but Rosen's parents' phone records."
And the BBC's Paul Wood added a chilling note, reporting that a FISA judge had approved surveillance of Trump in October, just three weeks before the election: "A lawyer — outside the Department of Justice but familiar with the case — told me that three of Mr. Trump's associates were the subject of the inquiry. 'But it's clear this is about Trump,' he said."
Does anyone doubt, having done it before, that the Obama administration wouldn't do it again? And did the FBI's Comey, playing cute with his wording around the term "wiretapping," possibly commit perjury in his testimony to Congress?
Regardless, it warrants a deep investigation. Who in the federal government was collecting information on Trump's aides and why? Was it for political reasons? Or part of a plan to undercut his presidency from the very beginning? Why haven't the leaks been stopped?
No one right now has all the answers. But the pattern suggests a surveillance program that would be a far more serious breach of the law than Watergate ever was. It's time the American people found out.
RELATED:
Why Trump's Tweet Could Be Trouble For Obama
To Democrats' Dismay, Trump Will Inherit Obama's Expanded Presidential Powers
Are Democrats' Claims Of Trump Colluding With The Russians Collapsing?
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/did-obama-surveil-trump-sure-looks-that-way/
"I recently confirmed that on numerous occasions the intelligence community ... collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition," Nunes told reporters.
Nunes immediately came under intense criticism from congressional Democrats for his revelations. What's both hilarious and sad is that these are the very same Democrats who have been nearly silent as a series of illegal leaks from the intelligence bureaucracy have made their way into the mainstream media, in a transparent attempt by unnamed intelligence officials to damage Trump's presidency.
Nunes, speaking Wednesday and citing only "sources," was careful to note that the surveillance of Trump aides appeared to be both legal and "incidental" — that is, not part of a directed spying operation on Trump.
Of course, that appears to be literally true. But it's also irrelevant. Democrats and the media keep mentioning the word "incidental" as if it exonerates what now appears to be a domestic spying operation against Trump directed from the Obama White House.
"Incidental" doesn't mean unintentional. Take as an example the leaks of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's conversations in late December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Those talks have been treated as sinister, with the Washington Post even suggesting that they were a violation of the Logan Act, a possible serious crime.
But U.S. intelligence gatherers could quite easily get an "incidental" trove of material on Flynn, simply by getting a surveillance warrant on someone they knew he was likely to talk to. Presto! The information on Flynn talking to the target becomes "incidental," rather than targeted. Still, the intent was clear.
The fact is, as Nunes revealed, this appears to be a pattern of surveillance put in place by the Obama administration and possibly officials in the FBI, CIA or National Security Agency to elude any appearance of a domestic spying operation on a political foe, which would be a serious crime.
Some of President Trump's calls with foreign leaders have likewise been leaked. By whom? For what purpose? This is clearly illegal behavior, and calls into question the reliability and loyalty of the entire intelligence community. Why are the Democrats not furious at this, as they would be if it were one of their own who was targeted?
Nunes was careful to note that the surveillance activities did not appear to be related to the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia in the last election. So the question remains: What were they doing?
We know that the investigation into Trump's campaign and Russia is real, since it was confirmed earlier this week by FBI Director James Comey himself. Comey, during his testimony, was clear and emphatic in saying President Trump's explosive tweets of two weeks ago accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower had no basis in fact.
"I have no information that supports those tweets," Comey told the committee. Besides, Comey added, no president could order a wiretapping operation against a specific citizen. That takes a court order.
True enough. But again, wiretapping is a term that to the government means one thing: The gathering of information from a specific telephone. What about a warrant for surveillance of a third party in order to catch a party unnamed in the warrant?
Back when they thought it might destroy Trump, the New York Times, Britain's Guardian, the BBC and McClatchy News Service all reported on President Obama's expanded use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to investigate Trump's team.
This isn't far-fetched at all. As John Nolte of the Daily Wire has noted, "In order to spy on James Rosen of Fox News, Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder named him as a criminal co-conspirator and, quite incredibly, a flight risk. This gave the Obama administration 'legal' access not only to Rosen's emails but Rosen's parents' phone records."
And the BBC's Paul Wood added a chilling note, reporting that a FISA judge had approved surveillance of Trump in October, just three weeks before the election: "A lawyer — outside the Department of Justice but familiar with the case — told me that three of Mr. Trump's associates were the subject of the inquiry. 'But it's clear this is about Trump,' he said."
Does anyone doubt, having done it before, that the Obama administration wouldn't do it again? And did the FBI's Comey, playing cute with his wording around the term "wiretapping," possibly commit perjury in his testimony to Congress?
Regardless, it warrants a deep investigation. Who in the federal government was collecting information on Trump's aides and why? Was it for political reasons? Or part of a plan to undercut his presidency from the very beginning? Why haven't the leaks been stopped?
No one right now has all the answers. But the pattern suggests a surveillance program that would be a far more serious breach of the law than Watergate ever was. It's time the American people found out.
RELATED:
Why Trump's Tweet Could Be Trouble For Obama
To Democrats' Dismay, Trump Will Inherit Obama's Expanded Presidential Powers
Are Democrats' Claims Of Trump Colluding With The Russians Collapsing?
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/did-obama-surveil-trump-sure-looks-that-way/
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Yes he did!
Should be an interesting day.
At the very least, it seems clear the Obama administration broke the law by identifying Trump associates and disseminating private information. Abusing the national security apparatus for partisan purposes is simply unconscionable. Given the administration weaponized the IRS to attack it's opponents, it's no surprise they abused privacy laws as well.
Why would anyone need to spy on Donald Trump?
Would they learn something secret that would make him look like a liar?
Would they learn something secret that would make him look him look like a blowhard?
Would they learn something secret that would make him look incompetent?
Would they learn something secret that would make him look like a con man?
lol
"a FISA judge had approved surveillance of Trump in October, just three weeks before the election: "A lawyer — outside the Department of Justice but familiar with the case — told me that three of Mr. Trump's associates were the subject of the inquiry. 'But it's clear this is about Trump,' he said."
Does anyone doubt, having done it before, that the Obama administration wouldn't do it again? And did the FBI's Comey, playing cute with his wording around the term "wiretapping," possibly commit perjury in his testimony to Congress?
Regardless, it warrants a deep investigation. Who in the federal government was collecting information on Trump's aides and why? Was it for political reasons? Or part of a plan to undercut his presidency from the very beginning? Why haven't the leaks been stopped?
No one right now has all the answers. But the pattern suggests a surveillance program that would be a far more serious breach of the law than Watergate ever was."
Here we go with More Trump Lies...Since Trump claims he had been wire tapped by Obama, perhaps he needs to look at his past associations...
Just What Were Donald Trump's Ties to the Mob?
In his signature book, The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump boasted that when he wanted to build a casino in Atlantic City, he persuaded the state attorney general to limit the investigation of his background to six months. Most potential owners were scrutinized for more than a year. Trump argued that he was “clean as a whistle”—young enough that he hadn’t had time to get into any sort of trouble. He got the sped-up background check, and eventually got the casino license.
But Trump was not clean as a whistle. Beginning three years earlier, he’d hired mobbed-up firms to erect Trump Tower and his Trump Plaza apartment building in Manhattan, including buying ostensibly overpriced concrete from a company controlled by mafia chieftains Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano. That story eventually came out in a federal investigation, which also concluded that in a construction industry saturated with mob influence, the Trump Plaza apartment building most likely benefited from connections to racketeering. Trump also failed to disclose that he was under investigation by a grand jury directed by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, who wanted to learn how Trump obtained an option to buy the Penn Central railroad yards on the West Side of Manhattan.
READ MORE:
It's pretty obvious Trump was wire tapped but for good reason. He's a mess.