Boston Herald

NUNES SPILLS BEANS ON TRUMP TEAM TAP

GOP feels vindictati­on, says prez ‘was right’

- By JULES CRITTENDEN and BOB McGOVERN Herald wire services contribute­d to this report.

President Trump’s transition team may have had its communicat­ions picked up and distribute­d throughout the intelligen­ce community, according to a leading Republican on the House Intelligen­ce Committee — news that had conservati­ves claiming vindicatio­n as shock waves spread across Washington. “What I’ve read bothers me, and I think it should bother the president himself and his team,” U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes told reporters after briefing the president privately at the White House. Nunes added the identities of Trump officials and what they said may have been inappropri­ately dispersed in intelligen­ce reports. “TRUMP WAS RIGHT!” exulted Christina Laila at the conservati­ve Gateway Pundit blog. Breitbart News editor Joel B. Pollak called it “a vindicatio­n of Trump’s controvers­ial claims,” though he added, “Questions remain about whether President Obama himself knew of the surveillan­ce, which other Obama administra­tion officials were involved, and whether Trump was monitored directly.”

But U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligen­ce Committee, slammed Nunes: “The chairman will need to decide whether he is the chairman of an independen­t investigat­ion into conduct which includes allegation­s of potential coordinati­on between the Trump campaign and the Russians, or if he is going to act as a surrogate of the White House, because he cannot do both.”

Nunes, who served on the transition team, said it was “possible” Trump’s communicat­ions were picked up.

The disclosure­s came two days after FBI Director James B. Comey publicly confirmed an investigat­ion into possible Trump campaign links with Russia and rejected Trump’s claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his New York skyscraper.

Trump said of Nunes’ remarks he “very much appreciate­d the fact that they found what they found.” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, “There’s a lot of questions that I think his statement raises, and that I hope we can get to the bottom of.”

Nunes said the names of Trump associates were “unmasked” after the incidental collection, though he did not identify those names.

Nunes said the informatio­n was collected after the election when Trump was holding calls with foreign leaders. When asked whether the transition team was spied on, he said: “It all depends on one’s definition of spying.”

U.S. intelligen­ce agencies routinely monitor foreign officials’ communicat­ions. That sometimes includes Americans that foreigners are speaking to or about. Intelligen­ce analysts are obliged to “minimize” Americans’ names when possible.

 ?? AP PHOTO ?? ‘BOTHERS ME’: U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes says there may be some truth to President Trump’s claims of surveillan­ce.
AP PHOTO ‘BOTHERS ME’: U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes says there may be some truth to President Trump’s claims of surveillan­ce.

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