Intel chairman says Trump tracked
THE Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, claims Donald Trump and his transition team may have been surveilled following the US presidential election.
According to Mr Nunes, some communications from the Trump team – and possibly Mr Trump himself – were subject to legal, “incidental” collection before his inauguration.
He did not specify whether the then Presidentelect’s communications were specifically targeted for collection.
Mr Nunes believed the surveillance to be legally collected, but nevertheless said he was “alarmed” by the discovery.
He claimed the intercepted communications were widely disseminated among intelligence agencies and had revealed the names of several Trump associates.
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 on Wednesday afternoon to brief Mr Trump on his findings.
Mr Trump said after the meeting that he felt “somewhat” vindicated by Mr Nunes’s announcement.
After briefing Mr Trump, Mr Nunes told reporters: “I think the President is concerned, and he should be.”
Mr Trump previously accused 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!”
However, Mr Nunes said he did not see any evidence of physical wiretapping and did not know whether any surveillance had occurred at Trump Tower.
“This is normal intelligence reporting,” he said.
“The question is, should (Trump) himself or others been put into (intelligence) reports? I don’t know the answer yet, but we’re going to try to get to the bottom of it.”
On Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey said neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice had information to support Mr Trump’s allegations against the former president.
Mr Comey also formally announced a long-suspected FBI investigation of the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
Mr Nunes said the collection he uncovered did not appear to be related to this investigation.
The House Oversight Committee has requested documents from the White House and the FBI showing any communications or payments between former national security advisor Michael Flynn and Russia.