Sunday, March 5, 2017

Trump’s Twitter Storm (Falsely) Accuses Obama of Wiretapping

President Donald Trump had a Saturday morning tweet storm on March 4, 2017. Here’s what he said, in five tweets:

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

"I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!"

"Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!"

"Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone."

"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”


Of course, Trump had no proof to back up his claims, which were quickly rebuked by an Obama spokesperson. 

These tweets show Trump’s ignorance. A president cannot order wiretaps; those laws have been on the books since the 1970s after the Nixon era. But Trump is now in a trap of his own making. He can’t prove his allegations, which make him seem even more paranoid and crazy. If there WERE wiretaps, they would have been initiated by federal investigators and been approved by a panel of judges who set the bar very high in order for a wiretap to be granted. This would mean that Trump and/or members of his campaign showed some signs of illegal activity. Either way, Trump loses.

I’m all for investigating Trump’s (baseless) claims, which could have the side benefit of uncovering the truth about his and/or his campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump’s Twitter rant should only expedite an investigation, something that I doubt he really wants. I am appalled at Trump’s apparent lack on control and also his desire to vomit his often wild opinions onto Twitter on a regular basis. He may think he is diverting attention from the issue of his ties to Russia, but his apparent insecurities have only drawn more attention to it. In my opinion, this is not the sign of a person with a stable mind. I encourage Congress or any federal agency to open an investigation into these claims that Obama wiretapped Trump, and when they are proven false, they can then open an investigation into President Trump’s mental ability to govern.





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