[h=1]BREAKING NEWS: Republican intelligence committee chairman says Obama administration surveillance collected 'incidental' info on Trump's transition team – but isn't prepared to call it 'spying'[/h]
- Devin Nunes stunned Washington by suggesting that President Donald Trump was right – sort of – when he claimed he was 'wiretapped' by Obama
- Intelligence collected on his transition team was 'incidental,' meaning Trump's insiders weren't targeted
- But 'dozens of reports' from inside the U.S. Intelligence Community confirm that the Obama administration's surveillance swept up Trump's people in its net
- Nunes said there were names 'unmasked' by the intel reports, which are supposed to black out names of Americans who are not investigative targets
The U.S. Intelligence Community collected 'incidental' information about President Donald Trump's transition team – and possibly about Trump himself – during the three months following the 2016 election, according to House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes.
Nones told reporters that the information collected was 'legally collected' pursuant to a warrant issued by a FISA judge in a federal court, and concerned 'foreign' surveillance.
But that 'did not involve Russia or any discussions with Russians,' Nunes said, adding that he was 'alarmed' to learn what he did.
Trump has insisted in recent weeks that his predecessor Barack Obama 'wire tapped' him inside Trump Tower last year, promising that new information would be forthcoming.
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House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes (pictured) said Wednesday that the U.S. government conducted surveillance that produced 'incidental' intelligence on the transition team of President Donald Trump and maybe Trump himself
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Trump will receive a briefing from Nunes on Wednesday afternoon
Based on Nunes' evaluation, the surveillance would have occurred while Obama was still president. Nunes said he has seen no evidence that Trump Tower was surveilled, which was one of Trump's contentions.
This week Nunes' Committee, along with its counterpart in the U.S. Senate, concluded that no evidence existed to support Trump's allegation.
FBI Director James Comey said much the same thing.
But Nunes said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence reports brought to him by unnamed sources include 'significant information' about Trump and his transition team.
Nunes has briefed House Speaker Paul Ryan, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and NSA Director Mike Rogers. He said will soon share his findings with Comey and the White House.
'I've seen dozens of reports,' Nunes said. 'I don't know if there are more than that ... I'm going to go to the White House and tell them what I've seen.'
'If they don't have it,' he added, 'they need to see it.'
'It's all classified information,' he said, and 'has nothing to do with any criminal investigation. This is normal incidental collection, at least from what I was able to read.'
Nones told reporters that the information collected was 'legally collected' pursuant to a warrant issued by a FISA judge in a federal court, and concerned 'foreign' surveillance.
But that 'did not involve Russia or any discussions with Russians,' Nunes said, adding that he was 'alarmed' to learn what he did.
Trump has insisted in recent weeks that his predecessor Barack Obama 'wire tapped' him inside Trump Tower last year, promising that new information would be forthcoming.
+2
House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes (pictured) said Wednesday that the U.S. government conducted surveillance that produced 'incidental' intelligence on the transition team of President Donald Trump and maybe Trump himself
+2
Trump will receive a briefing from Nunes on Wednesday afternoon
Based on Nunes' evaluation, the surveillance would have occurred while Obama was still president. Nunes said he has seen no evidence that Trump Tower was surveilled, which was one of Trump's contentions.
This week Nunes' Committee, along with its counterpart in the U.S. Senate, concluded that no evidence existed to support Trump's allegation.
FBI Director James Comey said much the same thing.
But Nunes said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence reports brought to him by unnamed sources include 'significant information' about Trump and his transition team.
Nunes has briefed House Speaker Paul Ryan, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and NSA Director Mike Rogers. He said will soon share his findings with Comey and the White House.
'I've seen dozens of reports,' Nunes said. 'I don't know if there are more than that ... I'm going to go to the White House and tell them what I've seen.'
'If they don't have it,' he added, 'they need to see it.'
'It's all classified information,' he said, and 'has nothing to do with any criminal investigation. This is normal incidental collection, at least from what I was able to read.'
Nunes told reporters he was bothered by 'why people would need to know that about President-Elect Trump or his transition team.'
But he declined to declare that the CIA, FBI or NSA was 'spying' on Trump.
'It all depends on one's definition of spying ... I'm not going to get into legal definitions here, but clearly I have a concern,' he said.
'It has nothing to do with any criminal investigation ... It was normal foreign surveillance, is what it looks like to me,' Nunes added.
Nunes's description of the reports he has seen is in line with the kind of surveillance that led to the disclosure of talks between Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak and the president’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn.
In this case, 'there were additional names that were unmasked,' he said.
In his daily White House briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer emphasized that 'American citizens are prohibited by law from being "unmasked" – from having their names put out there.'
But he declined to declare that the CIA, FBI or NSA was 'spying' on Trump.
'It all depends on one's definition of spying ... I'm not going to get into legal definitions here, but clearly I have a concern,' he said.
'It has nothing to do with any criminal investigation ... It was normal foreign surveillance, is what it looks like to me,' Nunes added.
Nunes's description of the reports he has seen is in line with the kind of surveillance that led to the disclosure of talks between Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak and the president’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn.
In this case, 'there were additional names that were unmasked,' he said.
In his daily White House briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer emphasized that 'American citizens are prohibited by law from being "unmasked" – from having their names put out there.'
Kislyak was under routine foreign surveillance by the FBI when he called Flynn during the transition, intelligence officials have said. That information was leaked to the press, and Flynn was accused of misleading the White House about the content of his conversations.
Flynn’s name was revealed by The Washington Post.
Spicer was unable to say if the names Nunes said were 'unmasked' were the same Americans who had been previously leaked.
Aside from Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Roger Stone were named as Trump associates under FBI surveillance in a Jan. 19 New York Times article.
On reporter asked if Nunes' comments could merely reflect what was already known about Flynn.
'I don't know. ... until the president gets briefed, I don't know what he knows,' Spicer responded.
Flynn’s name was revealed by The Washington Post.
Spicer was unable to say if the names Nunes said were 'unmasked' were the same Americans who had been previously leaked.
Aside from Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Roger Stone were named as Trump associates under FBI surveillance in a Jan. 19 New York Times article.
On reporter asked if Nunes' comments could merely reflect what was already known about Flynn.
'I don't know. ... until the president gets briefed, I don't know what he knows,' Spicer responded.
ointer: OMFG I am laughing so hard, I just fell out of my chair.
No wonder Nooner come out with his "there is nothing to see here and btw everything was done legally" bit yet the people on this board went crazy like monkeys at feeding time
https://www.yahoo.com/news/wsj-trum...ottle-damaging-his-credibility-153017659.html
[h=1]WSJ: Trump clings to wiretap claim ‘like a drunk to an empty gin bottle,’ damaging his credibility[/h]
Dylan Stableford 5 hours ago
Trump hugs a U.S. flag at a rally in Tampa in October. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) President Trump is clinging to his wiretapping claim “like a drunk to an empty gin bottle,” the Wall Street Journal said in a scathing editorial published Tuesday night. And that claim, floating in the president’s “seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods,” is severely damaging his credibility, both at home and abroad.
“If President Trump announces that North Korea launched a missile that landed within 100 miles of Hawaii, would most Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We’re not sure,” the paper said.
The Journal slammed Trump’s evidence-free assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower before the 2016 presidential election. Trump leveled his explosive charge on Twitter on March 4, and the White House has refused to back down, even after FBI Director James Comey dismissed the allegation as unfounded.
“He has offered no evidence for his claim, and a parade of intelligence officials, senior Republicans and Democrats have since said they have seen no such evidence,” the paper’s editorial board wrote.
The president has plenty of media critics, and the Journal’s editorial board was not particularly supportive of his candidacy. But the editorial is striking, given the paper’s traditionally conservative tone. Its owner, Rupert Murdoch, also owns Fox News, Trump’s favorite cable news network.
“Two months into his presidency, Gallup has Mr. Trump’s approval rating at 39 percent,” the editorial continued. “No doubt Mr. Trump considers that fake news, but if he doesn’t show more respect for the truth, most Americans may conclude he’s a fake President.”
The paper also pointed out how Trump’s refusal to back off his evidence-free claim has co-opted what could have been a positive news cycle.
“This week should be dominated by the smooth political sailing for Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee and the progress of health-care reform on Capitol Hill,” the editorial said. “These are historic events, and success will show he can deliver on his promises. But instead, the week has been dominated by the news that he was repudiated by his own FBI director.”
The Journal wasn’t the only paper to publish a Trump takedown Tuesday. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice warned that false statements from the Trump White House “are part of a disturbing pattern of behavior that poses real and potentially profound dangers to U.S. national security.”
“First impressions matter,” she wrote, “and an unsettling pattern has already been established.”
“The foundation of the United States’ unrivaled global leadership rests only in part on our military might, the strength of our economy and the power of our ideals,” Rice explained. “It is also grounded in the perception that the United States is steady, rational and fact-based. To lead effectively, the United States must maintain respect and trust. So, when a White House deliberately dissembles and serially contorts the facts, its actions pose a serious risk to America’s global leadership, among friends and adversaries alike.”
Following Comey’s testimony, the New York Times published an op-ed titled “All the President’s Lies.”
“The ninth week of Donald Trump’s presidency began with the F.B.I. director calling him a liar,” the Times’ David Leonhardt wrote. “Comey didn’t use the L-word in his congressional testimony Monday. Comey serves at the pleasure of the president, after all. But his meaning was clear as could be.”
“I’ve previously argued that not every untruth deserves to be branded with the L-word, because it implies intent and somebody can state an untruth without doing so knowingly,” Leonhardt continued. “But the current president of the United States lies. He lies in ways that no American politician ever has before. He has lied about — among many other things — Obama’s birthplace, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Sept. 11, the Iraq War, ISIS, NATO, military veterans, Mexican immigrants, Muslim immigrants, anti-Semitic attacks, the unemployment rate, the murder rate, the Electoral College, voter fraud and his groping of women.
“He tells so many untruths that it’s time to leave behind the textual parsing over which are unwitting and which are deliberate,” Leonhardt added, “as well as the condescending notion that most of Trump’s supporters enjoy his lies.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/wsj-trum...ottle-damaging-his-credibility-153017659.html
[h=1]WSJ: Trump clings to wiretap claim ‘like a drunk to an empty gin bottle,’ damaging his credibility[/h]
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“If President Trump announces that North Korea launched a missile that landed within 100 miles of Hawaii, would most Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We’re not sure,” the paper said.
The Journal slammed Trump’s evidence-free assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower before the 2016 presidential election. Trump leveled his explosive charge on Twitter on March 4, and the White House has refused to back down, even after FBI Director James Comey dismissed the allegation as unfounded.
“He has offered no evidence for his claim, and a parade of intelligence officials, senior Republicans and Democrats have since said they have seen no such evidence,” the paper’s editorial board wrote.
The president has plenty of media critics, and the Journal’s editorial board was not particularly supportive of his candidacy. But the editorial is striking, given the paper’s traditionally conservative tone. Its owner, Rupert Murdoch, also owns Fox News, Trump’s favorite cable news network.
“Two months into his presidency, Gallup has Mr. Trump’s approval rating at 39 percent,” the editorial continued. “No doubt Mr. Trump considers that fake news, but if he doesn’t show more respect for the truth, most Americans may conclude he’s a fake President.”
The paper also pointed out how Trump’s refusal to back off his evidence-free claim has co-opted what could have been a positive news cycle.
“This week should be dominated by the smooth political sailing for Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee and the progress of health-care reform on Capitol Hill,” the editorial said. “These are historic events, and success will show he can deliver on his promises. But instead, the week has been dominated by the news that he was repudiated by his own FBI director.”
The Journal wasn’t the only paper to publish a Trump takedown Tuesday. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice warned that false statements from the Trump White House “are part of a disturbing pattern of behavior that poses real and potentially profound dangers to U.S. national security.”
“First impressions matter,” she wrote, “and an unsettling pattern has already been established.”
“The foundation of the United States’ unrivaled global leadership rests only in part on our military might, the strength of our economy and the power of our ideals,” Rice explained. “It is also grounded in the perception that the United States is steady, rational and fact-based. To lead effectively, the United States must maintain respect and trust. So, when a White House deliberately dissembles and serially contorts the facts, its actions pose a serious risk to America’s global leadership, among friends and adversaries alike.”
Following Comey’s testimony, the New York Times published an op-ed titled “All the President’s Lies.”
“The ninth week of Donald Trump’s presidency began with the F.B.I. director calling him a liar,” the Times’ David Leonhardt wrote. “Comey didn’t use the L-word in his congressional testimony Monday. Comey serves at the pleasure of the president, after all. But his meaning was clear as could be.”
“I’ve previously argued that not every untruth deserves to be branded with the L-word, because it implies intent and somebody can state an untruth without doing so knowingly,” Leonhardt continued. “But the current president of the United States lies. He lies in ways that no American politician ever has before. He has lied about — among many other things — Obama’s birthplace, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Sept. 11, the Iraq War, ISIS, NATO, military veterans, Mexican immigrants, Muslim immigrants, anti-Semitic attacks, the unemployment rate, the murder rate, the Electoral College, voter fraud and his groping of women.
“He tells so many untruths that it’s time to leave behind the textual parsing over which are unwitting and which are deliberate,” Leonhardt added, “as well as the condescending notion that most of Trump’s supporters enjoy his lies.”
hno:
