Monday, June 15, 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

    India, Pakistan Clash At United Nations Over Kashmir

    India, Pakistan Clash At United Nations Over Kashmir
    India gave a rebuttal to Sharif's proposal to de-militarise Kashmir, asking that Pakistan needs to first "de-terrorise" the state.

    India, Pakistan Clash At United Nations Over Kashmir

    Indian-American Professor Kartik Chandran Wins $625,000 Macarthur 'Genius' Grant

    Indian-American Professor Kartik Chandran Wins $625,000 Macarthur 'Genius' Grant
    Kartik Chandran, an Indian-American associate professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been named a 2015 MacArthur Fellow with a "genius grant" of $625,000 with no strings attached.    

    Indian-American Professor Kartik Chandran Wins $625,000 Macarthur 'Genius' Grant

    Kiran Patel, Indian American Man in California Sues San Francisco 49ers For Brain Injury

    Kiran Patel, Indian American Man in California Sues San Francisco 49ers For Brain Injury
    Kiran Patel, 32, has held them responsible for an attack by violent fans that left him with a severe brain injury last year.

    Kiran Patel, Indian American Man in California Sues San Francisco 49ers For Brain Injury

    Auckland Stabbing: Mandeep Singh Gets Life Sentence Murdering His Wife Parmita Rani

    Auckland Stabbing: Mandeep Singh Gets Life Sentence Murdering His Wife Parmita Rani
    A New Zealand court on Tuesday sentenced a 29-year-old Indian-origin man to life in prison for murdering his wife earlier this year.

    Auckland Stabbing: Mandeep Singh Gets Life Sentence Murdering His Wife Parmita Rani

    Family Violence In Australia: Inquest Begins In Indian-Origin Woman Parwinder Kaur's Death In Sydney

    Family Violence In Australia: Inquest Begins In Indian-Origin Woman Parwinder Kaur's Death In Sydney
    Parwinder Kaur, 32, called emergency number triple zero on December 2, the night she died of serious burn injury, to tell the operator she was afraid of her husband Kulwinder Singh

    Family Violence In Australia: Inquest Begins In Indian-Origin Woman Parwinder Kaur's Death In Sydney

    Bill Gates Is America's Richest For 22nd Straight Year

    Bill Gates Is America's Richest For 22nd Straight Year
    While Gates' worth is assessed at $76 billion, down $5 billion from 2014, Trump's is put at $4.5 billion - less than half of what he has been claiming.

    Bill Gates Is America's Richest For 22nd Straight Year