Something-gate: Trump claims Obama bugged Trump Tower.

[SteveRogers]

Can't wait to see Spicer and Conway try to explain this today.

[SteveRogers]

Are you actually dumb enough to not realise that this if this were true it'd be extremely damning for Comrade Trump

You don't find a presidential candidate being bugged by the President in the name of "national security" and the CIA a little familiar? You haven't heard this story before?

1. Do you have evidence that Obama did any such thing? So far this looks like the rantings of a very paranoid and insecure man.

2. If someone did have Trump Tower wiretapped, then context is pretty darn important. Sure, if it somehow turned out that Obama hired burglars to break into Trump Tower and bug the place, then that's a very serious crime and people should face charges. If, on the other hand, the FBI had probable cause that someone working in Trump Tower was engaging in criminal activity and obtained a warrant to have a phone wire-tapped, that'd be a whole other story ...

[SteveRogers]

Are you actually dumb enough to not realise that this if this were true it'd be extremely damning for Comrade Trump

You don't find a presidential candidate being bugged by the President in the name of "national security" and the CIA a little familiar? You haven't heard this story before?

1. Do you have evidence that Obama did any such thing? So far this looks like the rantings of a very paranoid and insecure man.

2. If someone did have Trump Tower wiretapped, then context is pretty darn important. Sure, if it somehow turned out that Obama hired burglars to break into Trump Tower and bug the place, then that's a very serious crime and people should face charges. If, on the other hand, the FBI had probable cause that someone working in Trump Tower was engaging in criminal activity and obtained a warrant to have a phone wire-tapped, that'd be a whole other story ...

Why would he reveal this if he's up to something illegal? You all keep underestimating his intelligence and wonder why he's where he is today as opposed to that bitch. If Trump's personal phone was tapped, then you're gonna have a hard time telling me that the FBI suddenly can be trusted.

What has Trump "revealed" exactly? Evidence? Sources?

[SteveRogers]

You are all making the mistake of assuming that if there were wiretaps, they were legal and court approved.

That's a pretty serious allegation. Care to back it up with literally anything at all?

[SteveRogers]

Trump launched his career with obnoxious media stunts. I'm not going to pretend to condone that stuff. 

And yet you refuse to acknowledge that this morning's twitter rant was precisely that. Hmmm...

[SteveRogers]

Why wouldn't the Congressional Intelligence Committees widen there investigation to cover the possible abuse of executive branch investigative powers? A very serious accusation has been made by the sitting President about the previous President concerning the misuse of intelligence gathering powers. They can't very well pretend that that hasn't happened and that they are not willing to find out the truth of the matter. Interesting essay here from yesterday that spells out the issue

Can't they though? Yes, the sitting president has made a very serious accusation against the previous president? So what? The "very serious" accusation was made in the form of a 5am twitter rant that provided no evidence, sources, or arguments in favor of the sitting president's position. If Trump isn't even willing to elaborate on what on Earth he was talking about, then why should any congressional committees take him seriously? Congress does not exist to launch a witch hunt into every conspiracy theory President Trump blurts out. Should the congressional intelligence committees be investigating that massacre in Sweden? Maybe Rafael Cruz's involvement in the Kennedy assassination? Might as well investigate Obama's birth certificate while they're at it since Trump said it after all.

[SteveRogers]

Imagine if someone tweeted something like this about Trump. He'd be threatening a defamation suit right now. Trump is lucky Obama is too classy for that

[SteveRogers]

Hey, remember when the White House called on congress to investigate this? Congress is calling their bluff today. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/intelligence-deadline-wiretaps/

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[SteveRogers]

The DOJ is asking for more time to turn that evidence over to congress. Hmmm...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/intelligence-deadline-wiretaps/

[SteveRogers]

Less than 60 days in, and the REPUBLICAN chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is threatening to to subpoena the Trump regime for refusing to provide information backing up the President's unprecedented assertions and his threats against his predecessor. 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/intelligence-deadline-wiretaps/

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I'm not sure whether to be more horrified at the fact this is happening at all, or disgusted by the way Trumpolini and his cronies are incompetent at everything, even at being villains.

Lol, its almost as if when the Trump administration called on congress to investigate the government, they forgot that they're the government now.

The DOJ is asking for more time to turn that evidence over to congress. Hmmm...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/intelligence-deadline-wiretaps/

Possible surveillance of a Presidential campaign could potentially involve a number of different parties and agencies. I would imagine the DOJ want to be thorough in their response and to make sure that they've located all possible records relating to this matter before responding.

So are you saying you're willing to accept the results if the DOJ admits that they have no such evidence?

[SteveRogers]

Trump says his twitter rant accusing Obama of ordering surveillance on Trump Tower was justified because he's heard a bunch of people say the word "wiretap" recently.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tucker-carlson-wiretapping-obama-trump-tower-2017-3

[SteveRogers]

He's right. A whole bunch of news outlets have been insinuating that Trump was under surveillance by various three letter agencies. Watching them furiously backpeddle on this when Trump publicly drew the conclusion that they wanted the public to make fully justifies the tweets.

He's not right. No reputable news outlet ever reported that Obama ordered any form of surveillance on Trump himself. Yes, we know that the FBI has probed suspicious lines of communication between people in Trump's campaign and Russian officials. They probably even intercepted some communications between Trump's people and the Russians while wiretapping the Russians' calls. None of that is what Trump accused Obama of. Trump's twitter tirade made a very specific allegation. He said, "Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" Then he said, "Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election?" Then he said, "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" He repeated it 3 times for you in case you misunderstood it the first time. Even granting Donald the most charitable interpretation of what he said (i.e., "wire tapping" not being literal but in fact referring to a broad range of surveillance methods), Trump at minimum accused Obama of personally ordering surveillance on Trump's personal residence. Moreover, Trump insinuated that Obama acted illegally in doing so. There is no evidence to substantiate that claim. None whatsoever.

The tortured logic you are attempting to apply to excuse Trump's actions here completely sidesteps the fact that Trump making that statement at all should send up red flags about his mental state.

[SteveRogers]

I've never believed in any grand conspiracy of collusion between Trump and Russia, but at this point every single person involved is acting so strangely that I have to think there must be something that they don't want anyone to find out. Maybe it's not even a Russian hacking thing. Maybe it's something way weirder that no one's even thought of yet.

[SteveRogers]

Obama officials leaked classified document's serial codes.

In other words, this confirms that an effort has been made from day one to ensure that information that can embarrass Trump can be readily used; it's the same tactic used when Nixon detractors insinuated he was in Dallas on the day of the JFK assassination.

Uh, wow, the article you linked to doesn't indicate anything of the sort. The article just says the Obama administration made sure to securely deliver a list of serial numbers of relevant documents (not the documents themselves) to Intelligence Committee members. Those Intelligence Committee members have clearance to view the documents themselves, so I'm not sure why you call this a "leak." The outgoing administration wanted to ensure that someone outside the White House had a list of existing documents in case any of said documents were to "disappear" when Trump took over.

The report contradicts itself:

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So, are they just showing the committee the documents? Or are the documents now out of their proper place and are in the safe at the Intelligence Committee? Which is it?

No it doesn't, you just didn't read the article you posted. What was delivered to the committee was the list of document serial numbers, NOT the classified documents themselves.