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Presidential Trump Is Gone: Unhinged Trump Is Back Claiming Trump Tower Was Wiretapped
We had to know it couldn’t last. Donald Trump delivered a measured, presidential speech before a joint session of Congress that was well received (Yeah, we know. Low bar and blah blah blah) by people across the political spectrum. The only question was, “How long will Trump hold out before letting loose a crazy tweet storm?” The answer is “Less than a week.”
Yes, the President tweeted some stuff about Jeff Sessions and claims of hypocrisy regarding Democrats and the Russians. But it’s his early Saturday morning tweets where the President has anybody working in communications preparing for a long day. “Hey, Jim, you and the guys want to meet at the bar and watch the Villanova/Georgetown game? Yeah, I’ll…..wait…..oh s**t. Forget it. I’ll see you guys next week.”
So here is what President Trump tweeted:
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
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
Putting aside Trump’s goofy accusations that Obama tapped his phones in Trump Tower (the President doesn’t have the authority to do that), the question raised is: Where did Trump come up with this?
As we know, when President Trump says “Just found out” it usually means he saw it on Fox and Friends or read it in Breitbart. Well, lo and behold a piece from Breitbart, published yesterday, has text matching some of what Trump says:
Trump says, “Turned down by court earlier” is about this:
1. June 2016: FISA request. The Obama administration files a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to monitor communications involving Donald Trump and several advisers. The request, uncharacteristically, is denied.
Breitbart’s story is based in part on this story from Heat Street that was published back in November, the day before the election:
Two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of ‘U.S. persons’ in Donald Trump’s campaign with ties to Russia.
Contrary to earlier reporting in the New York Times, which cited FBI sources as saying that the agency did not believe that the private server in Donald Trump’s Trump Tower which was connected to a Russian bank had any nefarious purpose, the FBI’s counter-intelligence arm, sources say, re-drew an earlier FISA court request around possible financial and banking offenses related to the server. The first request, which, sources say, named Trump, was denied back in June, but the second was drawn more narrowly and was granted in October after evidence was presented of a server, possibly related to the Trump campaign, and its alleged links to two banks; SVB Bank and Russia’s Alfa Bank. While the Times story speaks of metadata, sources suggest that a FISA warrant was granted to look at the full content of emails and other related documents that may concern US persons.
The Heat Street story doesn’t reference “wiretaps, accusing” but the Breitbart story does. There is a whole lot of speculation in the Breitbart story and even in the National Review story referenced here.
The bottom line is, everything written is speculative or based on very thin sourcing. It requires a major leap to go from that to personally accuse President Obama of “wiretapping” his phones inside Trump Tower.
Then again, it’s Donald Trump.
The post Presidential Trump Is Gone: Unhinged Trump Is Back Claiming Trump Tower Was Wiretapped appeared first on RedState.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/jaycaruso/2017/03/04/trump-claims-trump-tower-was-wiretapped/
