Washington – Senators Seek Evidence To Support Trump’s Wiretapping Claim

    5

    Washington – The leaders of a congressional inquiry into Russia’s efforts to sway the U.S. election called on the Justice Department Wednesday to produce any evidence that supports President Donald Trump’s explosive wiretapping allegation.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    Declaring that Congress “must get to the bottom” of Trump’s claim, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente and FBI Director James Comey to produce the paper trail created when the Justice Department’s criminal division secures warrants for wiretaps.

    Trump tweeted last weekend that former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones at Trump Tower during the election. But Trump offered no evidence to back up the accusation. Through a spokesman, Obama said neither he nor any White House official had ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Trump’s claims had taken place.

    Following Trump’s tweet, FBI Director James Comey privately asked the Justice Department to dispute the president’s claim because he believed the allegations to be false.

    As the chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary crime and terrorism subcommittee, Graham and Whitehouse said they would take very seriously “any abuse of wiretapping authorities for political reasons.”

    But, they added, “We would be equally alarmed to learn that a court found enough evidence of criminal activity or contact with a foreign power to legally authorize a wiretap of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.”

    The senators are seeking warrant applications and court orders, which they said can be scrubbed to protect secret intelligence sources and methods.

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told Iowa reporters in a Wednesday telephone call that he needs to be able to “sort fact from fiction” before making any decisions about Trump’s wiretapping allegation.

    Grassley also said he’s waiting to receive a briefing from Comey, who told the senator earlier this week that he’s awaiting clearance from the Justice Department.

    The House and Senate Intelligence committees, and the FBI, are investigating contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, as well as whether Moscow tried to influence the 2016 election. Trump demanded that they broaden the scope of their inquiries to include Obama’s potential abuse of executive powers.

    Graham and Whitehouse acknowledged Trump’s desire for the intelligence committees to have purview, but they argued that their subcommittee has oversight of the Justice Department’s criminal division.

    Graham has been a frequent critic of Trump’s push for closer ties with Moscow. After Trump’s victory in November, he pledged to use his position in the Republican majority to investigate what he called “Russia’s misadventures throughout the world.”


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    5 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    hashomer
    hashomer
    7 years ago

    Trumpf and x-Trumpf guy Manafort both denied on TV that they had anything to do with taking anti-Russian language out of the GOP Platform. Today Trumpf insider R.D. Gordon admitted he had the Platform changed on the direct orders of Herr Trumpf. Look it up, google it, etc. So he falsely accuses President Obama of a felony to distract attention? Feh.

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    7 years ago

    The only evidence are reports on loony Alex Jones’ Infowars and Breitbart News, Trump’s sources of information.

    7 years ago

    Just to set the record straight for the poster here, the last time previously Russia came up in a serious manner in a campaign was Romney vs Obama. (2012 video available on youtube). Obama literally ridiculed (famous ridicule “the 1980’s are calling for their foreign policy back … the cold war has been over for 20 years”) Romney, The general Republican party sided with Obama against Romney on the matter, shutting down any talk of a bad Russia. That was long before Trump. So lay the blame where it belongs.

    What Trump’s campaign did was to block any platform based on sending U.S. weapons to Ukraine to be used against Russia. So let the audience here decide whether involving the U.S. with a hot-war against Russia is such a bright idea at anytime, but especially when noting how relevant Russia is regarding Syria and Iran.

    7 years ago

    There is absolutely no doubt the Russians have extensive kompromat material on Trump. This will all come out eventually as the Russians will blackmail him and we’ll see Trump’s actions consequential to this.