Trump Calls For Congress To Prove His Wild "Wire Tap" Allegations

Yesterday, President Trump took to Twitter to accuse former President Obama of ordering a wire tap on Trump's campaign offices during last year's campaign. Trump offered no proof of his accusations.

Trump's allegations would seem to have been based on a Breitbart article which used conservative radio host Mark Levin's "conspiracy theory" as it's "source."

Later in the day, Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for President Obama issued this statement:

"A cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."

Of course, presidents can't order wire taps. IF Trump was surveilled in such a way, it most probably would have been through a FISA warrant, which would have been an intelligence community action, not a White House action.

Obtaining a FISA warrant, however, would mean that investigators presented qualified evidence to a judge in order to obtain the warrant, so Trump may be doing himself in here.

Or, as Congressman Ted Lieu put it:

Mr. President: If there was a wiretap at Trump Tower, that means a fed judge found probable cause of crime which means you are in deep shit. https://t.co/i7dUMtHXmo

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 4, 2017

Today, through White House spokesman Sean Spicer, Trump is now asking Congress to look into the matter.

(1/4) Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling.

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) March 5, 2017

(2/4) President Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) March 5, 2017

(3/4) exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) March 5, 2017

(4/4) Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted.

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) March 5, 2017

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper appeared on Meet the Press this morning, and when asked about Trump’s allegations, he answered:

“I will say that for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, as a candidate, or against his campaign. I can’t speak for other Title 3 authorized entities in the government or a state or local entity…”

Clapper added that he would “absolutely” be aware if a FISA court order existed with regard to Trump.