In a Repudiation of Trump, a Senior House Leader Rejects Wiretap Claim

>Mr. Nunes and Representative Adam Schiff of California, the intelligence committee’s ranking Democrat, said the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, would testify Monday at the committee’s first public hearing on its Russian interference investigation. Mr. Comey could presumably resolve the question about the wiretap.

>Mr. Schiff also challenged the statements of Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had said that while he was not aware of any investigation targeting Mr. Trump, the president spoke accurately when he said he had been wiretapped by Mr. Obama.

>“Those two things cannot both be true unless he is suggesting that the F.B.I. was engaged in a rogue operation unsupervised by a court to wiretap Trump Tower,” Mr. Schiff said. “There is absolutely no evidence of that and no suggestion of any evidence of that.”

>In another sign of pressure, Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would block the nomination of Rod J. Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general unless the F.B.I. answered his questions. Mr. Rosenstein had been expected to win Senate confirmation easily. The Judiciary Committee has primary oversight of the F.B.I.

>The F.B.I. is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As part of that case, agents are looking at whether any of Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with the Russian government.

>After Mr. Trump made the claim on March 4 in a Twitter message that President Barack Obama had tapped his telephone, Mr. Comey, asked the Justice Department to make a statement disputing Mr. Trump’s assertion.
...

>So far, the Justice Department has refused to say publicly whether it went to a judge to get a secret warrant to eavesdrop on Mr. Trump, putting the department in a difficult position. Silence from the Justice Department has frustrated Mr. Comey.

>If the Justice Department says there was no wiretap, it undercuts the president’s accusation. If there was a wiretap, it suggests that F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors had probable cause to believe that Mr. Trump the candidate was operating as an agent of a foreign power.

>It is not clear why Mr. Trump thought he was wiretapped or what led him to make the claim, which was flatly rejected by James R. Clapper Jr., a former director of national intelligence, and by a spokesman for Mr. Obama.

>Mr. Graham and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked the F.B.I. last week for copies of any warrant applications and court orders “related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.”

>On Wednesday, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said during an appearance on CNN that he would also subpoena the F.B.I. to get the information if necessary.

>“I want to get to the bottom of it,” Mr. Graham said. “The F.B.I. would know if a warrant was issued. They would know if a warrant was applied for. I want to answer that question.”

>A delay on Mr. Rosenstein’s appointment would create a number of problems for the Justice Department. In particular, he was expected to oversee any department investigations into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election after Mr. Sessions recused himself because Mr. Sessions was an adviser to the Trump presidential campaign.

>>122133
Is trump a crazy person?

>>122207
Is water wet?

>>122133
>Republican of California
Hmmmmmmmm.

Also, daily reminder- the NY times is still contradicting its own earlier reporting about Trump being wiretapped.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html

>The F.B.I. is leading the investigations, aided by the National Security Agency, the C.I.A. and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit. The investigators have accelerated their efforts in recent weeks but have found no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, the officials said. One official said intelligence reports based on some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House.

Liberals are SO desperate

Trump give us the evidence and put them out of their misery, this is agonizing to watch.

Part of me thinks the President wants these lefties and RINOs to squirm. It does rally the republican base.

>>122257
See
>>122133

>>122135
>If the Justice Department says there was no wiretap, it undercuts the president’s accusation. If there was a wiretap, it suggests that F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors had probable cause to believe that Mr. Trump the candidate was operating as an agent of a foreign power.
>this

this is why Trump will not last a full term. he is a fucking moron who just stepped in a huge pile of shit. and is wiping it on his face.

the FBI could have gone on quietly investigating Trump until they came up with whatever answers. now that Trump has put a spotlight on them, they have to either call him a liar, or call him a foreign agent.

He did this to himself. no conspiracy, no deep state Obama moles. no "fake news". just senile old grandpa banging away on Twitter.

>>122266
See>>122288

>>122207

Nah, even autists can see what he's doing.

Every time the media gets on his back, he throws a baseball. "Obama tapped my phones!" he says. The media all run after the ball foaming at the mouth while Trump goes back to whatever he was doing prior.

This accomplishes two things, firstly the media is too busy generating controversy over nothing instead of generating controversy about bills, executive orders, or appointments, and secondly, it erodes the already shaky trust regular Americans have for mainstream media.

>>122256
Trump being wiretapped =/= Trump Tower being wiretapped =/= Obama wiretapping Trump

>>122349
As long as Trump has FoxNews and Breitbart to blame the leakers and run damage control every time something new and damning leaks out then the status quo will continue where roughly 30-40% of America believes whatever he says without question and blames the media for publishing the leaks.

>>122404
The truth is, he doesn't even need them. Even without Fox and Breitbart regular Americans are starting to get tired of the nonstop "Trump is doing this!" and "Trump is doing that!" "What will Trump do next?"

It slowly gets people to believe the idea that the media is biased against him, even when he does things popular with his constituencies or hard to directly attack him for, like the regulation cuts law.

He has put the media in the position where they're seen as the boy who cried wolf, no matter what they do.

>>122285
Or alternatively (and most likely), they'll be forced to admit that they fucked up. If the FBI did wiretap him in October, that would mean months of data collection. Considering that we have had no proof about the Russian connection released, that would mean the FBI wiretapped the president without gathering any evidence.

>>122519
isnt he the boy who cried wolf? Tweet tweet.

>>122548
if there was no probable cause, the fisa court would not have awarded the tappin to the FBI.

we still dont even know, if there was a tap.

>>122207
Does the Pope shit in the woods?

>>122519
>regular Americans are starting to get tired of the nonstop "Trump is doing this!" and "Trump is doing that!" "What will Trump do next?"
Citation needed
>even when he does things popular with his constituencies or hard to directly attack him for
You mean like increased costs for elderly healthcare and cutting funding for meals on wheels?

>>122585
>Citation Needed
http://www.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trust-in-media_us_57148543e4b06f35cb6fec58
http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/14/media/gallup-trust-in-media/
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/02/18/poll-trump-administration-more-trusted-than-media/

I included both rightyshit and leftyshit for you.

>>122607
Americans believe a lot of things. That doesn't make it true or right.

>>122607
>organized campaign to discredit the media
>wonders why the media is discredited in the eyes of the people

>>122608
You asked for a source, I gave it. Whether for right or wrong reasons people are trusting the media less. Personally I believe it's fueled by the reason I stated above >>122349

If you watch the whole press conference with Schiff and the other guy next to him they both say something like this: "If you take Trump's tweet literally then he is wrong about the wiretapping." Basically inferring that Trump meant that Obama literally went to Trump Tower to wire tap him. THAT is pretty fucking sad. That's the bs they're trying to pass off to get themselves out of the corner. Can't wait till next week. You guys need to listen more to what these people are saying and not take MSM for their word, which is basically trash right now.

>>122661

OK, nice spin. Trump mentioned being wiretapping in more times than just the tweet. He was pretty explicit about what he meant.

"How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"

Why is it like pulling teeth for everyone including liberal and conservative press to just admit he lied. He demonstrably lies very frequently. He lied about this. He read some fake news online or heard something on the radio and for whatever motives he has decided he'd bring attention to that.

>>122663
We'll see. Couple of weeks.

Literally when has the government ever admitted to wiretapping? Especially this early in the lifespan of the allegations

Of course they're not going to admit to spying on the current POTUS, that would be career suicide

>>122610
I wasn't the one who asked for the source. Learn how anonymous posting works.

>>122668
No we won't because it's based on Mark Levin's fantasies and not reality.

Look CNN OF COURSE played the press conference of Schiff and his associate yesterday and did a whole BS segment on how truly wronf Trump was to say that he was wiretapped when it was just "BACK DOOR SURVEILLANCE." They had 5 fucking people on as guests all saying shit like "Well technically Trump is wrong. It was surveillance not wire tapping." It was the craziest thing. Such fucking liars and if you can't see that then you are fucking blind. Here's the clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d11yWUw1fk
LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT THEY SAY!

here's the whole press conference. These freaking clowns say some shit like if you were to take his words literally then he would be wrong (Trump).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz8jX3Nu-_k

>>122663
I'm not spinning anything. It's what they said. Watch the press conference and CNN bs take on it. CNN must think people that watch their channel are complete and utter morons. It's amazing how blatant they are being with their spin. It's starting to look like Dems are trying to get themselves out of the corner on this and Russia. Just wait, it'll all come out sooner or later. Then how will you feel?

"wiretapping" refers specifically to telephones, it does not apply to cell phones.

>>122784
>How dare they besmirch our God Emperor!!!!!1
I can't decide if you're actually serious or if you are the resident /pol/ false flagger.

>>122842
Well you suck at this.

>>122842
Please explain how surveillance is significantly different than wire tapping?

>Well they didn't need to plant a recording device because they could just listen to everything through Trump's cell phone.

So basically everything about wiretapping can now be done without any additional hardware, so that means wiretapping can never happen! Case Closed! Trump is a liar!

>>122926
>Please explain how surveillance is significantly different than wire tapping?
lol
https://www.poynter.org/2017/did-donald-trump-just-come-up-with-a-new-use-for-quotation-marks/452766/

>>122288

Wow. Witnessed.

Remember when everyone thought the NSA was watching them, lol? Now it's totally not happening. Liberals, make up your mind.

How can they even say this when they totally know exactly what I'm posting right now?

>>122926
Communists will always split hairs, anon, and say that they can't find the head.

>>122519
IIRC people don't really trust "the media" as an amorphous blob but largely trust their own preferred outlets because we have almost free access to as many media as possible.

So a guy who says that the media is not trustworthy might still have positive views towards Infowars and Breitbart (or OTOH the NYT and NPR)

What I think is happening is not that people are losing trust in ALL media, their interests are just gravitating more towards the sources that tend to confirm their own beliefs (true or false). Then they view media that produce content that goes against those beliefs as "the biased liberal media" or "the biased corporate/racist media"

I myself am far left on most issues but I make it a habit to routinely dip into right-wing media from time to time just to expose myself to different facts. I know full well that my favourite media outlets will sometimes neglect to report this or that fact and sometimes if you fail to collect info outside your bubble you will wind up with a horribly warped view of the world. Though I tend to read establishment conservative voices like National Review or Reason solely because they source their articles better

Also, reading /pol/ and Breitbart comments also helps me identify weaknesses and opportunities in the opposition coalition that I (as a leftist) can use to exploit and get people to defect or at least leave the right opposition