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US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of tapping his phone during last year’s election.
The President offered no evidence of his claim, which he called “a new low”.
Taking to Twitter early this morning on the US east coast, Trump fired a barrage of tweets aimed at the 44th President of the US.
Trump did not say how he had found out about the wiretapping and an Obama spokesperson hit back, saying the President was wrong.
“President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen,” Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.
Last night before heading to his “Winter White House” in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Trump accused his opponents of conducting “a total witch hunt” into links with Moscow, which he denies.
The angry accusation came as Attorney General Jeff Sessions — a close Trump confidant and the US government’s top law enforcement official — was forced to recuse himself from any Russia-related inquiries.
After Sessions told senators under oath that “I didn’t have — did not have communications with the Russians,” journalists uncovered he had actually met the Russian ambassador twice in the months before taking office.
The meetings have raised red flags for Democrats, who have called for Sessions to resign and be investigated for perjury.
Trump said he had “total” confidence in Sessions, who “could have stated his response more accurately” but “did not say anything wrong.”
Trump lashed out at leading Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.
Trump tweeted an old picture of the senator with Russian President Vladimir Putin along with the caption: “We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!”
With AFP reporting
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He better have the evidence to back it up or else he will see himself in front of a judge.
Bet that would be one case that won’t be settled out of court
@Anto Curran: He has of course considering a court order was requested to Tap.
Is there not like a legal protection like privilege our politicians use?
@Anto Curran:
A sitting President cannot be sued or brought before the courts. Remember the President has equal power to the judiciary as one of the three branches of government.
Only thing that can happen is impeachment.
Has to be only a matter of time before an impeachment. For what… Could be anyone’s guess. Let’s wait and see.
Sexual assault, treason, tax avoidance….If a blowjob nearly lead to a previous impeachment, this guy is definitely going down (excuse the pun) if any of this is proven
colluding with a foreign power to influence election results in US = treason @Fred Jensen that means prison in the US
What if it’s true and Obama did tap his phones, now why would he do that, and what did it reveal…???
@Jed I. Knight: Had he good reason, Trump calls for a hack on DNC by Russians/his campaign manager had links and his team met with Russian diplomat during campaign. To top it all, Russia meddled in Elections and is that enough to arouse suspicion?
Probably CIA or FBI or KGB or MI5 or Noreen O Sullivan lol
This would be the biggest thing since Watergate…..but then he went on to tweet about a reality TV show??? Hmmm….
No impeachment has happened while the ruling party controls Congress.
Under a 1972 SC ruling in the US, public figures can only prove defamation of they can prove the alleged defaming party knew the claims were false.
You can only impeach for bribery or treason under the US Constitution. I’m hoping more comes out about his links to Russia asap
A president can’t order a wiretap but if he was been tapped it would have had to be one of the American intelligence agencies and they would have had to convince a federal judge of just cause
@Rose Fox: “You can only impeach for bribery or treason under the US Constitution”
Not true. Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice.
@Anto Curran: This guy is a 21centurary Mussolini, pompous, arrogant, selfserving with delusions of greatness but hasn’t a clue how Government is supposed to function. Like Mussolini who though Italy was his private estate this this fruitcake is heading for big trouble.
will trump be the first ever mental breakdown to be tweeted live?
Be afraid Be very afraid of this Nutjob Trump.
The next he will tweet is that Obama told him the the black box O sorry got my wires twisted
Obama needs to sue. If this accusation is untrue, he needs to take swift legal action for defamation
@Euro is Dead: Nope, he is making himself look silly now and doing damage to Republicans.
Didn’t he say the newspapers shouldn’t be allowed making statements without naming sources? Anybody not seeing this a hypocritical is crazy.
Donnie got this “story” from a Breitbart article posted yesterday made from several other articles which don’t come to anything near the same conclusion all made from unnamed sources. At most, the originating articles claim the FBI were investigating Donald before the election – it’s a big jump from there to Obama sitting in a Flowers By Irene van parked across the street from Trump tower.
The gas part of this is if Trump was telling the truth no one would believe him! Well no one with critical thinking.
The even funnier thing is that it’s from a story planted by the President himself, Bannon @Deborah Behan: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/03/mark-levin-obama-used-police-state-tactics-undermine-trump/
Breitbart is the No 3 US website in visits . Hardly a fringe site.
Viz rates highly too.
the comedy show continues, i dont know what funnier the reality or the skits at this stage
Muddy the waters enough so we can’t track scandals from ‘fake news’
He’s on twitter too much, acting like a immature teen
You sound surprised.
Awesome show this.
Comedy Capers crossed with National Lampoon’s does Government.
Cant wait for the season finale.
The season finale could be MAD. Nukes raining down from above :/
He is the president now, why the funk is he so obsessed with Hillary and Barack still????
Because he’s nowhere near as competent as them
@Negan: Walking Dead fan?
@watersedge sure am
Because he wants the truth! He ain’t doing it just to defame them. Why would he? He got his seat as president so now he what’s the truth to the countless lies they told. Trump lighten be better But time will tell.
@Negan: Because they are working to drive Sessions out. Sessions was caught telling a fib to the hearing on his appointment. So he is under pressure. Its a very small item which will fade over time. Trump is praying for a crisis to deflect this hostile attention.
Now he’s really lost it. What a big huge spoilt rotten little manchild
Jobs to big for Trump….He will milk it knowing he will soon be impeached …Pence will be president within 12 months Paddy Power here I come !
Better than Netflix.
Evidence is no longer required for any claim of hacking by Russia, the opposition or even the past president. Just state that it happened. The press might not report this as fact immediately this time around though.
@Kieran Woods: Kieran no one is listening to your reasonable observation. The BBC report as stating it without producing any facts, but that has not stopped the Democrats secret service from spreading lies and rubbish. The problem here is he may be right but people assume it to be lies. Just like people – even intelligent people believe that Putin won the election for him – grassy knoll stuff I know but this is the brave new world. The hacked emails damaged Clinton not because she was hacked but becasue what they revealed about the woman but sure no one wants to hear that story either which is why a lot of Clinton supporteers stayed away over her parties attitude to Saunders. But there is no truth anymore only lies.
Guys, it’s all just part of Trump’s usual propaganda to turn your attention away from what ever burning saucepan he’s got on the stove @Austin Rock @Kieran Woods http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/03/mark-levin-obama-used-police-state-tactics-undermine-trump/
@SarEire. I could not agree more! There must be a shitload more about to hit the fan.
@Austin
Clinton was never hacked, but don’t let facts get in the way of a good rant.
It’s all smoke and mirrors to distract from the real story if his links with Russia
People voted for this guy… And plenty of people on the journal actually took him serious too.
If his lines were tapped than a federal judge must have seen ample evidence to suspect Trump of a crime to allow it. You can’t just tap phones. So if this is true than the suspicions relating to Trump’s campaign are well possibly true too.
Unless it was rogue operation, Lisa. Remember there was an IRS scandal where conservative groups like the Tea Party and “True the Vote’ we’re being targeted by the IRS for their political beliefs. IRS officials like Lois Lerner repeatedly pleaded the fifth when questioned by Congressional committee. Points is the Obama admin did target political opponents.
Putin has placed a bug deep up Trump’s rectum.
What if politics was just a kind of circus, an illusion of sorts to distract people…
If Obama did tap the phones, was it around the same time as he got the information about Trump’s links to Russia? It’s definitely possible the phones were tapped if that’s the reason.
Real heavy accusation…will have to come up with solid proof.. President Obama is a dude not to be slandered. This opens the case for Obama to personally sue Trump which shall reveal Trump’s Taxes..Big day today
Correct. Obama always plays the long game, cool and collected, like Brady in the Superbowl last month. I believe Obama hinted at stuff like these scandals he knew were coming. He said after the election that he trusted the institutions in place to keep the country from going off the rails.
What we can now say about Trump is he has now made himself entirely scandal proof. As he said himself he could go to 5th avenue and start shooting people and it wouldn’t make much difference. We are now immune to his nonsense.
@Fred Jensen: agree , although I think its more calculated than it appears – firstly he needs to try change the media narrative because he is on the back foot with 24/7 Russian links on all media – secondly if he was being tapped it would have been by intelligence agencies on the Russian trail – not Obama – he may be trying to smoke out exactly what level of scrutiny they have on him during the elections – he knows if there is a Russia link to his election he its the one thing that will lead to his downfall – the tweet stuff is all a distraction – they are following the money / potential Russia links and he would be well advised to stop being so Pro Putin /appoint an independent prosecutor if he’s nothing to hide to allow draw a line and move on – he won’t.
The man is a paranoid lunatic with a very bad hairstyle
Tapped is the only word to describe this pathological and egotistical liar.
It’s humorous in a silly puerile sort of way.
It just gets more like a hollywood Comedy Horror movie everyday!
Seems the Liberal NUTS have taken over the comment section of the JOURNAL. IE
@Martin Doyle: Look up articles about refugees or travelers. You’ll feel at home there.
I hate people calling the looney left Liberal. A liberal believes in personal freedom, the left doesn’t.
Liberals have won more human rights and equality for all.
And started less wars
Tell that to the Vietnamese
What’s the big deal? Everything’s tapped over there, isn’t it common knowledge now because of Snowden?
Is this guy 70 or 7 ?????
The leader of the so called free world and he is full of accusations and alternative facts but no detail of proofs. This has 4yrs to run….. this is dangerous times
He is probably right but Obama would not personally responsible for this. The security service would need to get permission from the court of they felt a person was colluding with a foreign state. Basically trump is confirming That the security services had reason to believe he or his people were communicating with Russia. When all this finally comes out it will be huge.
Totally out of control, will lash out at any perceived crticism, the Obama jibe is laughable.
Obama is a product of the Chicago political machine.
Yeah, Chuck and Putin were seen laughing and joking in Krispy Kreme doughnuts that day.
Even if Trump can prove Obama as President was tapping his phone media will just ignore the story…
Um, they’ve already reported that the he allegation. Problem is Trump is pretty slow to produce evidence on his claims
It’s not ignoring it now. If Trump had actual proof he would have have the WH Press Office produce it as soon as he found out and would have the AG bring charges. But this is more smoke and mirrors from Trump.
@John if he can prove it, why not prove it when he makes the allegation? These unsubstantiated claims make HIM look crazy!
He’s just the puppet.The real string pullers are those that control Steve Bannon.
Ignore the story? Eh…..you’re commenting on an article about the story.
It’s been reported since Nov @John003: it’s called a FISA warrant “On the eve of the November election, Mensch published a sensational story reporting that a special intelligence court in Washington had granted a warrant to allow the FBI to conduct surveillance of “US persons” in an investigation of possible contacts between Russian banks and the Trump organisation”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/17/louise-mensch-trump-russia-ties-media-scoop
It is smoke as it’s meant to turn attention away from the heart of the scandal @Mick Jordan: but it is happening. the FBI have a FISA warrant on Trump organisation and Trump campaign. Nobody is suppose to officially comment on an ongoing investigation which is why there’s no official answers yet as it’s all about offshore accounts and hard proof, which takes time.
“Lawyers from the National Security Division in the Department of Justice then drew up an application. They took it to the secret US court that deals with intelligence, the Fisa court, named after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They wanted permission to intercept the electronic records from two Russian banks.
Their first application, in June, was rejected outright by the judge. They returned with a more narrowly drawn order in July and were rejected again. Finally, before a new judge, the order was granted, on 15 October, three weeks before election day”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427
You guys really have to stop using AFP as your “news” source.
Fake news.
When you consider the IRS scandal during the Obama years when an official was pleading the Fifth in testimony to Congress, there are grounds for debating whether the Obama admin was capable of targeting political opponents.
The possibility of treason on the part of the president is not the story here for most Republicans. They are asking how can a man who displayed such good judgement and command on The Apprentice suddenly become a dumbass decision maker. It’s gotta be that Obama sprayed the White House with some juju powder from his Kenyan shaman.
The President can’t order a wire tap but intelligence agencies can only for a good reason like suspicion of collusion with a hostile foreign power and only a judge can issue the warrant for a wire tap, intelligence agency did get a wire tap last October, this means a judge found there was enough evidence to tap him and now Trump has confirmed it to the world.
Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist magazine does great job debunking accusations against Trump campaign over ties to Russia. Points out the fake news about Russia hacking the Vermont electricity grid which the Washington Post published then had to retract. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/03/03/mollie_hemingway_vs_cnn_panel_trump_accuses_dems_of_witch_hunt_about_russia.html”
Correct link here http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/03/03/mollie_hemingway_vs_cnn_panel_trump_accuses_dems_of_witch_hunt_about_russia.html
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
If it was tapped three federal judges were convinced that there was probable cause that a crime was bring committed in order for fib to get a warrant.
The Cuckoo is running amok in the Whitehouse. The bird is going “Tweet Tweet” instead of his usual call “Cuckoo, Cuckoo” will somebody please sort it out before we are all have Canaries
Another day another Trump article. Yet hardly any coverage of the huge result in the elections in the north of this country? Staggering
What a complete fabrication. Made by Trump, hope this will bite him in the ass now.
FBI have ears on this numpty for years…. habe to keep tabs on a mentally unstable billionaire
This guy is just a clown
The NSA was busy doing that to everyone?
Who would believe a word out of this mans mouth?
The fbi didn’t need to investigate Trump.its all out there already
The thing is why is Trump damaging institutions set up to protect America…and not him..his constant claims will eventually drag US down.
We know for several years that the US government under Obama was tapping the phones of world leaders, I believe he was giving the information to ISIL but cannot prove it. Angela Merkel was the most high profile leader to be tapped and she complained. I don’t know how the US got over the legal issues.
So if Obama could wire tap ally Merkel, surely he could tap hostile Trump.
have your say