+5
Trump claims Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. Five issues here: 1- a president cannot order a wiretape. 2- in October The Guardian broke the news that FISA (foreign intelligence surveillance court) had granted the wiretap. 3- Republicans have continuously reenacted FISA saying it is a national security requirement even as Democrats have continuously tried to claim it was an invasion of privacy and should be eliminated. 4- Revealing the existence of a FISA wiretap is the same as disclosing top secret intelligence (worse than anything Hilary is accused of). 5- FISA, in theory, only orders these wiretaps in cases of strong evidence that a foreign government has infiltrated America and is operating a covert operation on US soil. So... it seems like Trump’s accusation is actually a violation of his sworn duty to protect national security, and perhaps an admission that there is in fact strong evidence of covert foreign activity inside of Trump Tower.
More lies from Trump. And another attempt to change the subject regarding Sessions and others that have met with the Russians. I feel certain Trump is really getting nervous, so out come the lies. I think he's feeling like a rat caught in a trap about now.
And it won't be long now, before Trump is up on espionage charges.
Where are the tax returns?
Exactly.... the minute he shows his tax returns, he will no longer be president and he knows it. We have a paranoid, crooked, immature, lying moron for a president.
In the same drawer as Trump's tax returns
Noneya. Trump is POTUS, not Obama or Hillary even though she WON.
Our election is NOT and never has been a national popularity vote, even though the media has made it into one. Read the Constitution.
You hit the nail on the head. They are whining now about poor little lying Trump, so they try to go back and put up more lies about Obama. They are living in the past only to divert the seriousness of what Trump and his minions are doing. It isn't working. Trump is in big trouble now, that's why he's tweeting more lies every day.
Trump will never be as good a president as President Obama was. Obama had integrity and cared about the American people, Trump only cares about putting more money in his coffers.....
And they are scrambling already. lol
So...who cares...what does any wiretapping have to do with anything.... Is Obama now going to sell info to Putin?
Maybe Obama instigated the wiretapping while he was in power and just forgot about it ...as you do...
This is making me stop breathing.
Maybe. Or maybe journalists have just gotten better at ferreting out this stuff, all the more reason not to put limits on free press.
It might be human nature to forgive transgressions that lead to outcomes we support and to rail against those we abhor.
(AN ASIDE) Awww...you said the word ferret... I love that word... Ferrets would be great at politics....
Excuse me...please carry on...
1. Perhaps not legally...
2. See your own fourth point.
3. Then why didn't the Dems repeal it when they controlled Congress?
4. Revealing that he, himself was the target of a wiretap has no bearing on our national security.
5. In theory. Then again, when has any court held to such high standards for probable cause, much less one that operates entirely outside public scrutiny?
All good points. And I tried to be fair by stating the alleged nature of the information.
To be fair a free press cannot comment espionage but a national candidate can.
Do you mean that a free press cannot commit espionage? Arguably, we do not have a free press, but that is another topic entirely. Yes, a member of the press can indeed commit espionage if they have access to classified information, which has apparently happened many, many, many times. I am not sure that a national candidate, who has never held public office and not yet being in office, has any security clearance or legitamate access to classified material, but like a journalist, if they came into possession of such, then yes, they could commit espionage, too.
Yes. Thanks. I agree an individual in any capacity could comment espionage. I submit that an outlet as a whole cannot in a free country. They might be accused of it, and the released info can be detrimental, but citizens of a free country always have the right to any and all information about what their government is up to, for good or bad.
When you find a truly free country, would you give me the heads up, Vic? :)
I agree that citizens have the right to know, good or bad. While I understand the reasoning behind keeping us in the dark, the most overused phrase in the US is "national security". The only purpose it truly serves is to hide our governments own misdeeds.
As always...JMHO
Presidents have ordered wiretapping.
As part of the touted war on terror. Under this program, referred to by the Bush administration as the terrorist surveillance program, part of the broader President's Surveillance Program, the NSA was authorized by executive order to monitor, without search warrants, the phone calls, Internet activity (Web, e-mail, etc.), text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lies within the U.S. However, it has been discovered that all U.S. communications have been digitally cloned by government agencies, in apparent violation of unreasonable search and seizure.
JFK on MLK, and so forth.
I suspect you are right. Lots of buggery going on. It seems unlikely to me that Obama himself ordered this, the trail will likely end up in Comely's lap.
Arrest them both.
Approving is not ordering.
My wife orders a pizza. She tells me about it.
I say "I approve, pizza sounds good."
I am not saying it never happens, but according to the law, only a judge can order a wiretap.
It would be silly for a president to insist the FBI install a wiretap because if they found any evidence they could not use it in court.
Here's what we are talking about.
-Obama might have wanted a wiretap.
-He would go to the AG (Loretta Lynch ) and say -"I want a wiretap".
-Lynch would go to the director of the FBI (James Comely) and tell him to prepare a warrant.
-Comely would go to a judge and ask the judge to 'order' the wiretap.
-Then some FBI technician would follow the order and install the wiretap.
If a judge ordered the wiretab, then nothing is illegal.
If a judge did not order it, and it was still installed than nothing gathered on the tap could be used against Trump in any formal hearing. That info could not be used to impeach him or charge him with any crime. So if it happened, you can pretty much be sure a judge ordered it, not Obama.
It is Comely's job
To arrest himself?
To request a wiretap
democrats lie all the time. did the democrates end the patriot act? no they did not, yet they claimed it was an intrusion of privacy before they got power, they say the rights things to get elected but then do the oposite, and you peopel still support them
which people still support them?