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With No Evidence, Trump Accuses Obama of Wiretapping Trump Tower
The president tweeted out the accusations from his resort in Palm Beach
Mar 04, 2017
Update 3/5/17:
The White House on Sunday asked Congress to investigate President Donald Trump's claims--still without evidence--that President Barack Obama ordered an illegal wiretap of Trump's phones during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The call for an investigation into Obama comes as the Trump administration remains silent regarding the ongoing public demand for an independent investigation into Trump's business conflicts and his campaign's alleged communications with Russian officials.
Earlier:
President Donald Trump on Saturday morning accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping phones in New York City's Trump Tower before the November election.
In a series of tweets, Trump offered absolutely no evidence for the accusations in which he compared Obama to President Richard Nixon:
"No president can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you," fired back former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes on Twitter.
And Trump himself has garnered many comparisons to Nixon for the president's failure to divest from his businesses, his administration's attempts to use government agencies to protect its own interests, and his right-wing campaign rhetoric.
"I don't think Richard Nixon even comes close to the level of corruption we already know about Trump," commented former White House lawyer John Dean, who worked for Nixon, to the Atlantic earlier this year.
Many observers hypothesized that Trump's tweets are an attempt to divert media attention away from the scandal swirling around Attorney General Jeff Session's alleged perjury over his communications with a Russian official. The Guardian further notes that similar conspiracy theories about Obama were published in recent days on the far-right outlet Breitbart News.
Thirty minutes after making the allegations against Obama, Trump switched gears to complain about The Apprentice:
According to the New York Times, the president tweeted the accusations while vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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Update 3/5/17:
The White House on Sunday asked Congress to investigate President Donald Trump's claims--still without evidence--that President Barack Obama ordered an illegal wiretap of Trump's phones during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The call for an investigation into Obama comes as the Trump administration remains silent regarding the ongoing public demand for an independent investigation into Trump's business conflicts and his campaign's alleged communications with Russian officials.
Earlier:
President Donald Trump on Saturday morning accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping phones in New York City's Trump Tower before the November election.
In a series of tweets, Trump offered absolutely no evidence for the accusations in which he compared Obama to President Richard Nixon:
"No president can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you," fired back former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes on Twitter.
And Trump himself has garnered many comparisons to Nixon for the president's failure to divest from his businesses, his administration's attempts to use government agencies to protect its own interests, and his right-wing campaign rhetoric.
"I don't think Richard Nixon even comes close to the level of corruption we already know about Trump," commented former White House lawyer John Dean, who worked for Nixon, to the Atlantic earlier this year.
Many observers hypothesized that Trump's tweets are an attempt to divert media attention away from the scandal swirling around Attorney General Jeff Session's alleged perjury over his communications with a Russian official. The Guardian further notes that similar conspiracy theories about Obama were published in recent days on the far-right outlet Breitbart News.
Thirty minutes after making the allegations against Obama, Trump switched gears to complain about The Apprentice:
According to the New York Times, the president tweeted the accusations while vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Update 3/5/17:
The White House on Sunday asked Congress to investigate President Donald Trump's claims--still without evidence--that President Barack Obama ordered an illegal wiretap of Trump's phones during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The call for an investigation into Obama comes as the Trump administration remains silent regarding the ongoing public demand for an independent investigation into Trump's business conflicts and his campaign's alleged communications with Russian officials.
Earlier:
President Donald Trump on Saturday morning accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping phones in New York City's Trump Tower before the November election.
In a series of tweets, Trump offered absolutely no evidence for the accusations in which he compared Obama to President Richard Nixon:
"No president can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you," fired back former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes on Twitter.
And Trump himself has garnered many comparisons to Nixon for the president's failure to divest from his businesses, his administration's attempts to use government agencies to protect its own interests, and his right-wing campaign rhetoric.
"I don't think Richard Nixon even comes close to the level of corruption we already know about Trump," commented former White House lawyer John Dean, who worked for Nixon, to the Atlantic earlier this year.
Many observers hypothesized that Trump's tweets are an attempt to divert media attention away from the scandal swirling around Attorney General Jeff Session's alleged perjury over his communications with a Russian official. The Guardian further notes that similar conspiracy theories about Obama were published in recent days on the far-right outlet Breitbart News.
Thirty minutes after making the allegations against Obama, Trump switched gears to complain about The Apprentice:
According to the New York Times, the president tweeted the accusations while vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
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