When I first wrote on this Trump-Russian-wiretapping issue, I said that it was a mess. What an understatement.
During the campaign, there were accusations that Trump's aides were in collusion with the Russian government, which was allegedly trying hard to help Trump get elected. The Russians were tied to the Wikileaks collection of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign specifically her campaign manager John Podesta.
Interestingly, the New York Times published on article on the day Trump was inaugurated which said that Trump associates including members of his campaign were the subject of electronic monitoring over the Russian issue, and that the information obtained was shared with the White House. Yet, when Trump recently accused the Obama administration of wiretapping him, the NY Times -the same writer- took the position that there was no evidence to support it. The below posting by The Lid outlines the curious reporting by the ever curious NYT. It links both articles, and I have also linked them separately below.
http://lidblog.com/same-ny-times-reporter/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/us/politics/trump-obama-tap-phones.html?_r=0
Ex Director of National Security James Clapper told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview this past week that there was no FISA authorized wiretaps against Trump or his campaign. He could not speak for other federal law enforcement agencies.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-05/james-clapper-denies-obama-wiretapped-trump
We do know, however, that Michael Flynn, who had to resign as Clapper's successor over this mess, was caught on a wiretap with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. We also know that the intercept was leaked to the media-a crime by whoever did it. So who was doing the wiretap? Was it a FISA wire or a normal wire obtained through a federal court order? Who was the target of the wire-Flynn or the ambassador? Reason says it was almost certainly the ambassador, whom you would expect to be under electronic monitoring via a FISA order.
One would think-especially with the new administration- that answers would be quickly forthcoming. Except that Clapper denies it and FBI Director James Comey requested the DOJ to publicly refute Trump's charge. Is somebody lying or merely splitting hairs? Could it have been an illegal wire a la Watergate?
I'm like everybody else. I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I sense that however it turns out, this is a big story.
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