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DOJ Remains Silent as Spicer Refuses to Go Down Trump-Created 'Rabbit Hole'
Why hasn't the Department of Justice weighed in on President Donald Trump's wiretapping claims?
Mar 06, 2017
While White House press secretary Sean Spicer continued to deflect questions about President Donald Trump's groundless wiretapping claims on Monday--going as far as to say that discussing them would involve going down "a rabbit hole"--at least one U.S. lawmaker wants to know whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions is behind the U.S. Department of Justice's failure to weigh in on the matter.
According to news reports, FBI director James Comey asked the DOJ over the weekend to formally rebut Trump's assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of his phones during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DOJ has not done so.
"Did Attorney General Sessions decline, or recuse himself?" Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) asked on Twitter Monday, referring to Sessions' decision last week to recuse himself from federal investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Schiff reportedly later said in an appearance on MSNBC that the DOJ should "tell the country whether there was ever a wiretap."
With regard to those allegations--which the White House has now ordered Congress to investigate--Spicer refused to provide more detail on sourcing during an off-camera press gaggle on Monday afternoon.
The Hill reports:
Spicer would not say whether Trump has seen evidence of his claims, but asserted that "there's no question that something happened."
"The question is it, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap, or whatever?" he asked.
"There's been enough reporting that strongly suggests that something occurred," the spokesman added, while providing no specific examples.
Listen to the briefing below:
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
While White House press secretary Sean Spicer continued to deflect questions about President Donald Trump's groundless wiretapping claims on Monday--going as far as to say that discussing them would involve going down "a rabbit hole"--at least one U.S. lawmaker wants to know whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions is behind the U.S. Department of Justice's failure to weigh in on the matter.
According to news reports, FBI director James Comey asked the DOJ over the weekend to formally rebut Trump's assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of his phones during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DOJ has not done so.
"Did Attorney General Sessions decline, or recuse himself?" Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) asked on Twitter Monday, referring to Sessions' decision last week to recuse himself from federal investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Schiff reportedly later said in an appearance on MSNBC that the DOJ should "tell the country whether there was ever a wiretap."
With regard to those allegations--which the White House has now ordered Congress to investigate--Spicer refused to provide more detail on sourcing during an off-camera press gaggle on Monday afternoon.
The Hill reports:
Spicer would not say whether Trump has seen evidence of his claims, but asserted that "there's no question that something happened."
"The question is it, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap, or whatever?" he asked.
"There's been enough reporting that strongly suggests that something occurred," the spokesman added, while providing no specific examples.
Listen to the briefing below:
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
While White House press secretary Sean Spicer continued to deflect questions about President Donald Trump's groundless wiretapping claims on Monday--going as far as to say that discussing them would involve going down "a rabbit hole"--at least one U.S. lawmaker wants to know whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions is behind the U.S. Department of Justice's failure to weigh in on the matter.
According to news reports, FBI director James Comey asked the DOJ over the weekend to formally rebut Trump's assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of his phones during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DOJ has not done so.
"Did Attorney General Sessions decline, or recuse himself?" Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) asked on Twitter Monday, referring to Sessions' decision last week to recuse himself from federal investigations into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Schiff reportedly later said in an appearance on MSNBC that the DOJ should "tell the country whether there was ever a wiretap."
With regard to those allegations--which the White House has now ordered Congress to investigate--Spicer refused to provide more detail on sourcing during an off-camera press gaggle on Monday afternoon.
The Hill reports:
Spicer would not say whether Trump has seen evidence of his claims, but asserted that "there's no question that something happened."
"The question is it, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap, or whatever?" he asked.
"There's been enough reporting that strongly suggests that something occurred," the spokesman added, while providing no specific examples.
Listen to the briefing below:
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