Saturday, June 27, 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 to name new ISI chief soon: Report

    Pakistan to name new ISI chief soon: Report
    At a time when the Pakistan Army is being viewed as again meddling in politics, the country's top spy agency -- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) -- may get a new...

    Pakistan to name new ISI chief soon: Report

    US media sees much at stake in Xi's India visit

    US media sees much at stake in Xi's India visit
    As the US reiterated that it wanted India to have friendly relations with China, the US media suggested that there was much at stake in Chinese President....

    US media sees much at stake in Xi's India visit

    Revealed: What sets tectonic plates in motion

    Revealed: What sets tectonic plates in motion
    The mystery of what kick-started the motion of our earth's massive tectonic plates across its surface has been solved by researchers at the University of Sydney....

    Revealed: What sets tectonic plates in motion

    Murder case registered against Pakistani PM

    Murder case registered against Pakistani PM
    Police Wednesday registered murder cases against Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and several of his ministers in the killing of opposition...

    Murder case registered against Pakistani PM

    Sino-Indian cooperation invaluable: Chinese daily

    The India-China relationship is of enormous strategic value, one that cannot be replaced by other bilateral ties, a leading English daily of China...

    Sino-Indian cooperation invaluable: Chinese daily

    Bobby Jindal to decide on presidential run after November

    Bobby Jindal to decide on presidential run after November
    Louisiana’s Indian-American Republican Governor Bobby Jindal has acknowledged that he’s considering a 2016 run for president, and will make...

    Bobby Jindal to decide on presidential run after November