Editorial roundup

March 7 The Boston Herald

Presidential wiretapping

President Trump’s Twitter rants are rather like magical pixie dust — they obscure real controversies, like possible links between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, and change the conversation.

But this weekend’s tweetstorm, accusing President Obama of “tapping my phones in October” — a quite specific charge — isn’t just idle gossip acquiring a life of its own because its source is the commander in chief. This level of accusation calls into question the very rule of law in this nation. And that is a danger to its institutions — like the Justice Department and the FBI.

That is what autocrats do, generally not the elected presidents of democratic republics.

And it certainly ends any hope of comity with the previous administration.

“How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Trump tweeted early Saturday morning (misspelling tap).

There is no stepping back from that level of insult or accusation.

By Sunday morning the former director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., had categorically denied the charge during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Asked whether he could confirm or deny if a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Act) order existed for such a wiretap, Clapper declared, “I can deny it.”

Asked again by host Chuck Todd whether there was a FISA court order to monitor Trump Tower, Clapper said, “Not to my knowledge.”

That also explains why FBI Director James Comey has — at least privately — asked the Justice Department to issue a similar public rejection of Trump’s claims. Because the charges call into question whether the FBI itself broke the law.

It is highly likely, of course, that the conversations of some Trump officials, like his short-lived first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, were picked up by routine wiretaps on the phones of Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. But that’s a far cry from U.S. intelligence wiretapping a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil — something that requires a FISA order.

So once again Trump has taken back center stage — although not necessarily in a good way. And make no mistake, this will be investigated — a demand the president may come to regret.