Friday, June 5, 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

    Pakistan Woman Paraded With Blackened Face, Shaved Head For Eloping

    Pakistan Woman Paraded With Blackened Face, Shaved Head For Eloping
    A 23-year-old woman was paraded in her village streets with blackened face and shaved off head by her family members for allegedly eloping with a man, the latest in a series of 'honour' related crimes in Pakistan's Punjab province.

    Pakistan Woman Paraded With Blackened Face, Shaved Head For Eloping

    World Gets Ready To Observe Second Yoga Day

    World Gets Ready To Observe Second Yoga Day
    The world is ready to observe the second International Day of Yoga (IDY) on Tuesday as Indian missions abroad held many practice sessions to prepare thousands of people for the day.

    World Gets Ready To Observe Second Yoga Day

    Justin Trudeau Condemns Killing Of 14 Canadian Embassy Security Guards In Kabul

      The Canadian Embassy in Kabul confirmed Monday that the guards were on their way there when the bombing happened, but said there had been no attack on its embassy premises.

    Justin Trudeau Condemns Killing Of 14 Canadian Embassy Security Guards In Kabul

    US Should Start Thinking About Racial Profiling, Says Donald Trump

    US Should Start Thinking About Racial Profiling, Says Donald Trump
    Citing the example of Israel and other countries in this regard, 70-year-old Trump argued this is not the worst thing to do.

    US Should Start Thinking About Racial Profiling, Says Donald Trump

    UK Teenager Raped, Stabbed After Being Dragged Out Of Eatery

    UK Teenager Raped, Stabbed After Being Dragged Out Of Eatery
    In a horrific incident, a 17-year-old girl in the UK was raped and stabbed in the stomach after being dragged out of a restaurant by a man in a "violent and pre-planned attack" in a busy town centre.

    UK Teenager Raped, Stabbed After Being Dragged Out Of Eatery

    Orlando Gunman Omar Mateen Was Fired From Prison Guard School For Gun Joke

      In 2007, the Department of Corrections employed Mateen and financed his schooling at Indian River State College to become an officer. But it lasted only six months.

    Orlando Gunman Omar Mateen Was Fired From Prison Guard School For Gun Joke