Monday, June 1, 2026
ADVT 
International

Donald Trump's Wire-Tapping Claims Simply False: Obama Spokesman

The Canadian Press, 04 Mar, 2017 12:42 PM
    US President Donald Trump's accusation that his predecessor Barack Obama had his "wires tapped" in Trump Tower before Election Day is "simply false", Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said on Saturday.
     
    "A cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice," Xinhua news agency quoted Lewis as saying in a statement.
     
    "As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false," said Lewis.
     
    Trump claimed in a tweet storm on Saturday morning that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower before his election victory, but offered no evidence.
     
    Trump said: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"
     
    He also called Obama a "bad, or sick, guy". 
     
    "Is it legal for a sitting President to be 'wiretapping' a race for President prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!" Trump added in subsequent tweets. 
     
    "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!"
     
    The President then compared the alleged surveillance of his communications to Watergate -- the scandal in the early 1970s that brought down Republican President Richard Nixon after he ordered a break-in of the Democrats' Washington headquarters.
     
    However, Trump did not immediately provide evidence that Obama was responsible for surveillance on his property, the Hill newspaper reported.
     
     
    Moments earlier, Trump had also linked Obama to Attorney General Jeff Sessions's meetings last year with Russia's ambassador to Washington.
     
    "The first meeting Jeff Sessions had with the Russian Amb was set up by the Obama Administration under education programme for 100 Ambs," he tweeted.
     
    Sessions on Thursday said he would recuse himself from any investigations into Russia's links to Trump's team, after massive outrage over the revelations that he met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice during the campaign, then denied doing so during his confirmation hearings.
     
    Trump also blasted Obama for meeting Kislyak 22 times and tweeted: "Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone."
     
    Trump's team has sought to push back on accusations of ties with Russia by pointing out instances of Democrats meeting Kislyak, according to the report. 
     
    Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was ousted last month after revelations that he misled top White House officials about the nature of his conversations with Kislyak.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    3 Canadian Cruise Ship Passengers Charged In Sydney In $23 Million Cocaine Case

    3 Canadian Cruise Ship Passengers Charged In Sydney In $23 Million Cocaine Case
    The haul valued at 31 million Australian dollars (US$23 million) was the largest seizure in Australia of narcotics carried by passengers of a cruise ship or airliner, Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald said.

    3 Canadian Cruise Ship Passengers Charged In Sydney In $23 Million Cocaine Case

    Tamim Chowdhury, Canadian Terror Suspect, Killed By Bangladeshi Police

    Tamim Chowdhury, Canadian Terror Suspect, Killed By Bangladeshi Police
    Police in Bangladesh killed three suspected militants Saturday, including a man they identified as a Canadian accused of masterminding a deadly attack on a cafe in Dhaka last month.

    Tamim Chowdhury, Canadian Terror Suspect, Killed By Bangladeshi Police

    Husain Haqqani Gets Passport After Being Forced To Give Up Pakistani Citizenship

    Husain Haqqani Gets Passport After Being Forced To Give Up Pakistani Citizenship
    Haqqani has been living in the United States for more than a decade but retains his Pakistani citizenship and travels on a Pakistani passport.

    Husain Haqqani Gets Passport After Being Forced To Give Up Pakistani Citizenship

    Appeal Court To Hear Trader Joe's Suit Involving B.C. Man Reselling Groceries

    Appeal Court To Hear Trader Joe's Suit Involving B.C. Man Reselling Groceries
    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court's decision to dismiss California-based Trader Joe's federal trademark claims.

    Appeal Court To Hear Trader Joe's Suit Involving B.C. Man Reselling Groceries

    In A Rare Case, Hindu Girl Weds Childhood Muslim Friend In Pakistan After Converting To Islam

    In A Rare Case, Hindu Girl Weds Childhood Muslim Friend In Pakistan After Converting To Islam
    The family of Gordhan Das Khatri willingly allowed their daughter to convert to Islam in order to marry her childhood friend Bilal Qaimkhani whose father Muhammad Yousuf Qaimkhani is an old friend of Khatri.

    In A Rare Case, Hindu Girl Weds Childhood Muslim Friend In Pakistan After Converting To Islam

    No One Should Tell Women What To Wear: Sadiq Khan On Burkini Ban

    No One Should Tell Women What To Wear: Sadiq Khan On Burkini Ban
    London mayor Sadiq Khan has joined other protesters in the British capital to condemn the burkini ban in France, saying no one should dictate women what they can and can't wear.

    No One Should Tell Women What To Wear: Sadiq Khan On Burkini Ban