Trump backs probing Obama administration
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday backed the US House Intelligence Committee chairman’s efforts to investigate actions by US security and other officials under previous president Barack Obama, inserting himself into a political feud amid the panel’s Russia probe.
“The big story is the ‘unmasking and surveillance’ of people that took place during the Obama Administration,” Trump said in a tweet, one day after the committee’s Republican chairman subpoenaed the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency.
Democrats shot back, accusing Trump, a Republican, of diverting attention from the ongoing scandal that now hangs over his young presidency and criticizing committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ subpoenas.
On Wednesday, Nunes asked the agencies for details of any requests made by two top Obama administration aides and the former Central Intelligence Agency director to “unmask” Trump campaign advisers inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts, according to congressional sources.
Another congressional source, who also requested anonymity, said Democrats were “informed and consulted” about the subpoenas ahead of time, but some committee aides said they were not.
In April, Nunes recused himself from leading the panel’s investigation into suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election following a secret visit he paid to White House officials, but retains subpoena power. A senior committee aide said on Wednesday’s subpoenas were not part of the Russia probe.
Representative Jim Himes, a Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, replied to Trump’s tweet, calling it a “pathetic distraction.”
Ed Markey, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN: “Nunes is too close to the Trump White House.”
Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, a House Foreign Relations Committee member, also questioned Nunes’ actions in a separate CNN interview.
Americans’ names picked up in foreign communications intercepts must be concealed unless senior officials request them to be disclosed for intelligence or law enforcement purposes. Any such requests undergo rigorous legal reviews, and US officials have said all such requests under Obama, a Democrat, were conducted properly.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, Republican Representative Mike Conaway and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who are leading the committee’s Russia probe, announced subpoenas for Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as well as their firms.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied leading efforts to interfere in last year’s US election, and on Thursday said some Russians might have acted on their own but not with their government’s involvement.
Trump has denied any collusion between Russia and his campaign and has repeatedly questioned the US intelligence finding that Putin led an operation that included computer hacking, fake news and propaganda intended to swing the election in his favour over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
On Wednesday, Clinton said she suspected Trump’s campaign guided Russian efforts.