Trump transition team members ‘were under surveillance after election’
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said at a press conference yesterday that Donald Trump and his transition team may have been surveilled following the presidential election. According to Mr Nunes, some communications from the Trump team – and possibly Trump himself – were subject to legal, “incidental” collection before his inauguration. He did not specify whether the then-President-elect’s communications were specifically targeted for collection.
Mr Nunes believes the surveillance to be legally collected, but nevertheless said he is “alarmed” by the discovery. He claimed the intercepted communications were widely disseminated among intelligence
agencies, revealing the names of several Trump associates in the process.
Mr Nunes chairs the House Intelligence Committee's ongoing investigation into Russian interference in last year’s election. He told reporters he uncovered the potential surveillance while reviewing intelligence reports. The representative visited the White House yesterday afternoon to brief Mr Trump on his findings. Mr Trump said after the meeting that he felt “somewhat” vindicated by Mr Nunes’s announcement.
“I want to be clear, none of this surveillance was related to Russia or the investigation of Russian activities or of the Trump team,” Nunes said. However, Nunes said later he could not be sure that other information existed elsewhere related to Russia.
The leaders of the main House investigative committee said separately yesterday they had asked the White House and FBI for documents regarding Flynn's foreign contacts with Russia, Turkey and others. After briefing Mr Trump, Mr Nunes told reporters outside the White House, “I think the president is concerned, and he should be.”
Mr Trump previously accused former President Barack Obama of surveilling him during the election, tweeting, “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
Mr Nunes categorised the surveillance as “normal intelligence reporting.” He did not see any evidence of physical wiretapping, and did not know whether any surveillance had occurred at Trump Tower. He focused mainly on the alleged “unmasking” of Trump and his associates in the intelligence reports. “The question is, should [Trump] himself or others been put into [intelligence] reports?” Mr Nunes said. I don't know the answer yet, but we’re going to try to get to the bottom of it.”
FBI Director James Comey said on Monday that neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice had information to support Mr Trump’s allegations. He also formally announced a long-suspected FBI investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Nunes said the collection he uncovered did not appear to be related to this investigation.