Friday, June 26, 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

    School opens in Haiti in honour of Canadian Mountie killed in earthquake

    A vocational school is set to open Monday in Haiti in honour of a respected Mountie from New Brunswick killed almost five years ago in a devastating earthquake while he was on an educational mission in the Caribbean country.

    School opens in Haiti in honour of Canadian Mountie killed in earthquake

    Key question: How did Dallas health worker caring for Ebola patient catch the disease herself?

    Key question: How did Dallas health worker caring for Ebola patient catch the disease herself?
    How did it happen? That's the big question as federal health officials investigate the case of a Dallas health worker who treated an Ebola patient and ended up with the disease herself.

    Key question: How did Dallas health worker caring for Ebola patient catch the disease herself?

    Are India-Pak Heading For A War? Border situation deteriorating, Pakistan tells UN

    Are India-Pak Heading For A War? Border situation deteriorating, Pakistan tells UN
    Pakistan has again approached the UN on the "deteriorating situation" along the Kashmir border, and called for an end to the Kashmir dispute in line with ...

    Are India-Pak Heading For A War? Border situation deteriorating, Pakistan tells UN

    US sets aside $20 mn for strategic tech projects with India

    US sets aside $20 mn for strategic tech projects with India
    With the India-US Defence Trade and Technology Initiative regaining momentum after the Indian elections, the US has set aside $20 million for strategic....

    US sets aside $20 mn for strategic tech projects with India

    Explosion Prompts Evacuation At Saskatchewan Gas Pumping Facility

    Explosion Prompts Evacuation At Saskatchewan Gas Pumping Facility
    PRUDHOMME, Sask. - An explosion and fire at a gas pumping station in Saskatchewan on Saturday prompted an evacuation. RCMP said the blast occurred at a TransGas facility near this small community, northeast of Saskatoon.

    Explosion Prompts Evacuation At Saskatchewan Gas Pumping Facility

    Crude Oil Prices Stabilise After Sharp Decline

    Crude Oil Prices Stabilise After Sharp Decline
    The crude oil market suffered another big weekly loss amid concerns over surplus supplies. This week, the prices of US crude and Brent crude dropped 4.4 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

    Crude Oil Prices Stabilise After Sharp Decline