Did Barack tap Donald’s phone?
In a word: NO! But Donald Trump has not backed away from the explosive charge he first made on March 4, without providing one shred of evidence so far.
As Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., advised last week, it’s time for Trump to either retract or substantiate his claim that President Barack Obama wire-tapped him in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. It’s time for Donald Trump to put up or shut up.
Especially in this age of hyper-partisanship, it’s notable that not one single Republican has come forward to defend Trump’s attack on Obama. Not Speaker Paul Ryan. Not Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. Not Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Grassley. Not Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Nor House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes, who told reporters this week quite simply: “We don’t have any evidence that that took place.”
Even at the White House, the best Press Secretary Sean Spicer can do is assure reporters that Trump still believes his claim and is convinced he’ll someday be vindicated. Based on what? Based on three arguments, not one of which holds water.
Phony White House argument number one: It’s up to Congress to prove Obama was tapping Trump’s phones. NO, NO, NO. It wasn’t a member of Congress who made that charge. The president of the United States did. He accused a former president of committing a felony. It’s his responsibility, not that of Congress, to prove it. Congress wouldn’t hold a hearing if you or I charged someone with breaking the law with no evidence. They shouldn’t be holding hearings on an unsubstantiated claim by Donald Trump, either.
Phony White House argument number two: Trump wasn’t really talking about “wiretapping” as such. That’s why he put it in quotation marks. He was talking about “surveillance in general,” they insist. Or, as Trump told Tucker Carlson of Fox News this week: “But that really covers surveillance and many other things.” Nice try to change the subject after the fact, Mr. Trump. But no sale.
Here, for the record, are four tweets sent out by Donald J. Trump on March 4:
Tweet 1: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” 6:35 a.m.
Tweet 2: “Is it legal for a sitting president to be “wire tapping” a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” 6:49 a.m.
Tweet 3: “I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!” 6:52 a.m.
Tweet 4: “How low has President Obama gone to tapp (sic) my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” 7:02 a.m. Trump’s very words contradict any attempt to reinvent his meaning. There’s no other way to read it. He was talking about wire-tapping. He accused President Obama of committing a federal crime by ordering something a president doesn’t even have authority to do. And he called Obama a “bad guy.” And “sick.”
Phony White House argument number three: Trump’s sources were numerous press accounts about wire-tapping during the campaign, including a Jan. 20, 2017 article in The New York Times. Again, not true. And perhaps dangerous, for Trump.
Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post, in fact, examined every media mention of wire-tapping or surveillance related to the 2016 campaign. He found NOT ONE word about President Obama and wire-tapping. Trump’s source appeared to be an article by Breitbart’s Joel Pollak, based on conspiratorial theories spouted by right-wing talk radio host Mark Levin. Kessler rated the multiple media source argument as deserving four Pinocchios.
As for the Jan. 20 Times article, here’s where it gets dangerous for Trump. Because, based on American intelligence sources, the Times reported that law enforcement and intelligence agencies were “examining intercepted communications and financial transactions” between Russian officials and Trump associates. In other words, if there was any “surveillance” going on, it’s because the FBI suspected people around Trump, and perhaps Trump himself, of CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. And that investigation is still ongoing.
There is, in other words, nothing to this story but the wild rantings of a mad man who happens to be president of the United States. Instead of investigating whether there’s any truth to Donald Trump’s charges against Barack Obama, Congress should be investigating how they can get a man with zero concern for the truth out of the White House.