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

    Sikh Free School Opens Its Doors In Britain

    Sikh Free School Opens Its Doors In Britain
    After facing a lot of disappointment in Britain's Coventry schools, members of the Indian-origin Sikh community have set up their own school for their new generation.

    Sikh Free School Opens Its Doors In Britain

    Kerry arrives in Paris for IS talks

    Kerry arrives in Paris for IS talks
    US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday arrived in Paris after a four-day tour of the Middle East trying to build a coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS)...

    Kerry arrives in Paris for IS talks

    29 missing as ship capsizes in Philippines

    29 missing as ship capsizes in Philippines
    At least 29 people were missing after a roll-on and roll-off vessel with 84 people on board capsized off central Philippine province of Leyte Saturday night...

    29 missing as ship capsizes in Philippines

    Facebook set to take on YouTube

    Facebook set to take on YouTube
    Get ready for a fierce content war between YouTube and Facebook. The social networking site is in talks with some of the biggest video content producers...

    Facebook set to take on YouTube

    Netherlands deploys more experts to probe MH17 crash

    Netherlands deploys more experts to probe MH17 crash
    The Dutch government has decided to send more experts to Ukraine to investigate the cause of Malaysia Airline flight MH17's crash....

    Netherlands deploys more experts to probe MH17 crash

    Hasina, Modi to meet in US

    Hasina, Modi to meet in US
    Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are scheduled to meet in New York this month during the UN General Assembly (UNGA)...

    Hasina, Modi to meet in US