Trump Tower wiretapping allegations

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On March 4, 2017, Donald Trump wrote a series of posts on his Twitter account that falsely accused former President Barack Obama's administration of wiretapping his "wires" at Trump Tower late in the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump called for a congressional investigation into the matter, and the Trump administration cited news reports to defend these accusations. His initial claims appeared to have been based on a Breitbart News article he had been given which repeated speculations made by conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch or on a Bret Baier interview, both of which occurred the day prior to his Tweets. By June 2020, no evidence had surfaced to support Trump's claim, which had been refuted by the Justice Department (DOJ).[1]

Representative Devin Nunes, the then-chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he would investigate the claim. At a committee open hearing on March 20, 2017, FBI Director James Comey stated that neither the FBI nor the Justice Department possessed any information to support Donald Trump's wiretapping allegations. Nunes stated on March 23 that the Trump administration's communications might have been legally monitored during the transition period as part of an "incidental collection".[2] Intelligence Committee leaders later said they found no evidence to support the claim.[1]

The DOJ declared in a September 1, 2017, court filing that "both the FBI and NSD confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets",[3][4] and confirmed this in another court filing of October 19, 2018.[5] On September 19, 2017 CNN reported that the FBI wiretapped Paul Manafort before and after the presidential election, extending into early 2017, although the report did not make clear whether Manafort was monitored during his tenure with the Trump campaign from March through August 2016. The CNN report also stated that the Manafort surveillance began after he became the subject of an FBI investigation in 2014. Some commentators cited this report as vindication for Trump's claims, while others noted that it did not confirm the accuracy of Trump's original tweets, and that it is still unknown whether any surveillance of Manafort took place at Trump Tower.[6][7] Manafort owned a condominium in Trump Tower from 2006 until its seizure by federal authorities following his 2018 convictions.[8][9] Furthermore, the 2017 CNN report cited as partial vindication for Trump was refuted by a 2019 investigation by the DOJ's Inspector General, which stated: "We are aware of no information indicating that the Crossfire Hurricane team requested or seriously considered FISA surveillance of Manafort or Flynn."[10]: 357 

In a 2019 call in to Sean Hannity's show, Trump said that his original allegation of "wires tapped" was not literal, and that he really meant: "surveillance, spying you can sort of say whatever you want". Trump also said that his allegations were made "just on a little bit of a hunch and a little bit of wisdom maybe", and that he thought his allegations were "pretty insignificant" when he made them.[11]

  1. ^ a b "From birtherism to 'treason': Trump's false allegations against Obama". Los Angeles Times. June 23, 2020. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Justice Department was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Burleigh, Nina (September 2, 2017). "Trump's Claim That Obama Wiretapped His Campaign Is False: U.S. Department of Justice". Newsweek. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  5. ^ Kalmbacher, Colin (October 20, 2018). "Trump Admin Says There is No Evidence Obama Wiretapped Trump". Law & Crime. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Manafort wiretap was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Graham Not Vindicated was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Wilkie, Christina (November 6, 2017). "Paul Manafort's Trump Tower condo becomes the latest sticking point for prosecutors". CNBC. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  9. ^ Ingber, Sasha (October 5, 2018). "Feds Move To Take Paul Manafort's Trump Tower Condo". NPR. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  10. ^ Office of the Inspector General U.S. Department of Justice (December 9, 2019). "Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation" (PDF). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference HillHunch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).