Wednesday, June 17, 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

    Record Turnout For Yoga In Paris

    Record Turnout For Yoga In Paris
    The flagship event happened at the the Parc de la Villette in northeastern Paris, which was organised by the Embassy of India, in collaboration with numerous yoga associations from all over France.

    Record Turnout For Yoga In Paris

    Indo-Canadian Alok Mukherjee Stepping Down As Toronto Police Board Chairman

    Indo-Canadian Alok Mukherjee Stepping Down As Toronto Police Board Chairman
    Alok Mukherjee announced his resignation effective from August 1, during a board meeting on Thursday, reported the Toronto Star. He served as the chairman since 2005.

    Indo-Canadian Alok Mukherjee Stepping Down As Toronto Police Board Chairman

    US Church Shooting Revives 2012 Gurdwara Attack Memories

    US Church Shooting Revives 2012 Gurdwara Attack Memories
    The shooting in a historic US church on Wednesday night has come to haunt those who lost their dear ones in a similar traumatic attack about three years ago by a White supremacist in a Wisconsin state gurdwara, killing six Indian-origin people.

    US Church Shooting Revives 2012 Gurdwara Attack Memories

    Ministry Investigating Riot At Maximum Security Prison In Penetanguishene, Ont.

    Ministry Investigating Riot At Maximum Security Prison In Penetanguishene, Ont.
    Ontario's Correctional Services Ministry is investigating after a riot at the maximum security Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene.

    Ministry Investigating Riot At Maximum Security Prison In Penetanguishene, Ont.

    South Carolina's Indian American Governor Nikki Haley Seeks Death Penalty For US Church Shooter

    As the white young man who killed nine people at a historic US black church faced a court, many victims' families forgave him, but South Carolina's Indian American governor Nikki Haley sought the death penalty for him.

    South Carolina's Indian American Governor Nikki Haley Seeks Death Penalty For US Church Shooter

    Bobby Jindal Takes Pot Shots At Obama Over Church Shooting

    While one Indian-American Republican governor sought to lay a healing salve after the horrific mass shooting at a historic American church, another chose to take cheap political pot shots at President Barack Obama.

    Bobby Jindal Takes Pot Shots At Obama Over Church Shooting