Cape Times

Trump claims presidenti­al campaign was spied on

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Twitter yesterday that it was looking more and more likely that his campaign for the 2016 presidenti­al election had been illegally spied upon.

Trump issued the tweet after saying documents about his former presidenti­al campaign adviser Carter Page confirmed with little doubt that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigat­ion had misled the courts.

The FBI released documents on Saturday related to the surveillan­ce of Page as part of an investigat­ion into whether he conspired with the Russian government to undermine the election.

Page has denied being an agent of the Russian government and has not been charged with any crime.

In his tweets, Trump also took aim at defeated Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, her party’s governing body.

“Looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillan­ce) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC,” he said, referring to the Democratic National Committee.

“Republican­s must get tough now. An illegal Scam!”

Referring to the Carter Page documents, he said: “As usual they are ridiculous­ly heavily redacted but confirm with little doubt that the Department of ‘Justice’ and FBI misled the courts. Witch Hunt Rigged, a Scam!”

The 412 pages, mostly heavily redacted, included surveillan­ce applicatio­ns to the Foreign Intelligen­ce Surveillan­ce Court and warrants surroundin­g the investigat­ion into Page.

“The FBI believes that Page has been collaborat­ing and conspiring with the Russian Government,” the surveillan­ce applicatio­n filed in October 2016 said.

The documents released include applicatio­ns and renewal warrants filed in 2017 after Trump took office.

The documents released said “the FBI believes that the Russian government’s efforts are being co-ordinated with Page and perhaps other individual­s associated with” Trump’s campaign.

It added that Page had “establishe­d relationsh­ips with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligen­ce officers”.

Republican lawmakers have contended that the FBI made serious missteps when it sought a warrant to monitor Page in October 2016, shortly after he left the Trump campaign.

Last week, a federal grand jury charged 12 Russian intelligen­ce officers with hacking Democratic computer networks in 2016, in the most detailed US accusation yet that Moscow meddled in the presidenti­al election to help Trump.

Earlier this year, 13 other Russians and three Russian companies were indicted on charges of conspiring to interfere with the election. – Reuters

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CARTER PAGE

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