# Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping him **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384 "2017-03-04T15:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/201 "2017-03-07T05:20:24Z")
> [@1iLeft](#): > > Yep, that’s the scary part. > It is very discouraging to watch and read some of the comments of this youtube video - “[Mark Levin fox and friends on President Trump Obama wiretapping trump tower phones 3/5/2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6QLbFi0do)”. > > This is frustrating. \*\*I believe that the right wing talk crowd are as destructive to this country as terrorist. \*\* > If you’re looking for proof or wondering if Trumps’ followers will still follow… Nail on the head stuff, there. _More_ destructive, in my opinion. This cancer has been eating at our country for nearly 30 years. It’s gone so far, I have no idea what can be done about it now. Between the successful attacks on education, the entrenched nature of “alternative facts,” people like Limbaugh, Levin, Jones, Bannon and yes, Trump, spreading their vile lies and hate throughout a certain eager population that loves to hear it because it validates their own inner racist, carving this disease out of our citizenry seems an impossible goal at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/202 "2017-03-07T06:07:02Z")
I had a laugh-out-loud moment today reading a CNN story: [FBI Director James Comey was ‘incredulous’ over Trump’s tweets](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/james-comey-trump-wiretap-tweets/index.html) > [@](#): > > On CNN’s “Situation Room,” Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Trump must have evidence of his wiretap claims, and Comey, who he calls a “friend,” should turn the allegations over to “an investigative arm” to get to the truth of what happened. > > “Jim Comey is an honorable guy,” Kelly said. “And so is the President of the United States. And the President must have his reasons.” Not sure about Comey, but calling Trump honorable is akin to doing the same about the rat guarding the cheese. Or, even more appropriately, the scorpion who stings the frog carrying it across the river: “Why’d you do that? You’re killing yourself too.” “I can’t help it. It’s in my nature.” ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/203 "2017-03-07T12:11:02Z")
**“Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping him”** > [@](#): > > “The neurotic has suspicions, the psychotic has convictions.” > psychiatrist Thomas Szasz Trump’s been in office over a month. Yet only now Trump lodges this accusation: - reportedly without offering supporting evidence - against the contradictions of such authorities as Clapper - despite his November victory It would seem at least to be an unusual delayed reaction. Is this Trump’s standard for waging War? Shoot on suspicion? Proof optional? > [@](#): > > “Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt, that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” > U.S. President Bush (the younger) televised address to the U.S. March 17th, 2003 We lost over 4,000 in that one. How many of U.S. will Trump waste, in the next 4 years? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/204 "2017-03-07T12:43:33Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Nail on the head stuff, there. _More_ destructive, in my opinion. ^ This. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/205 "2017-03-07T14:11:24Z")
> [@sear](#): > > \*\*It would seem at least to be an unusual delayed reaction. Au contraire. It’s perfectly times to try to distract you from the ongoing Russia debacle. This isn’t a response to anything that actually happened. It’s a response to the Jeff Sessions story. The lack of a logical connection is irrelevant. It accomplishes the tasks of: 1. Getting the media onto another story, and 2. Putting another false narrative into the mind of Trumpists. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/206 "2017-03-07T20:43:12Z")
_Not_ an anonymous source. > **[NSA Whistleblower Backs Trump Up on Wiretap Claims](https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims)** > > Bill Binney, who resigned from NSA in 2001, did not elaborate on President Obama’s specific role in surveilling Trump. “I think the president is absolutely right. His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored,” Bill Binney, a 36-year veteran of the National Security Agency who resigned in protest from the organization in 2001, told Fox Business on Monday. … “The evidence of the conversation of the president of the U.S., President Trump, and the [prime minister] of Australia and the president of Mexico. Releasing those conversations. Those are conversations that are picked up by the FAIRVIEW program, primarily, by NSA.” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/207 "2017-03-07T20:51:18Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > _Not_ an anonymous source. > > [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims](https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims) > > “I think the president is absolutely right. His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored,” Bill Binney, a 36-year veteran of the National Security Agency who resigned in protest from the organization in 2001, told Fox Business on Monday. > … > “The evidence of the conversation of the president of the U.S., President Trump, and the [prime minister] of Australia and the president of Mexico. Releasing those conversations. Those are conversations that are picked up by the FAIRVIEW program, primarily, by NSA.” Some guy who left the NSA in '01 presents no evidence for Trump’s claim about Obama. How is this relevant to the discussion? Trump has a history of making evidence-free claims about Obama. So far this is just another one. Maybe at some point he’ll offer evidence, but that would be something new for Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/208 "2017-03-07T20:57:04Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > _Not_ an anonymous source. > > [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims](https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims) > > “I think the president is absolutely right. His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored,” Bill Binney, a 36-year veteran of the National Security Agency who resigned in protest from the organization in 2001, told Fox Business on Monday. > … > “The evidence of the conversation of the president of the U.S., President Trump, and the [prime minister] of Australia and the president of Mexico. Releasing those conversations. Those are conversations that are picked up by the FAIRVIEW program, primarily, by NSA.” Amazing how someone who lost his clearance 16 years ago knows more about super-secret Watergate-style wiretaps than the FBI Director!! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/209 "2017-03-07T22:07:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Amazing how someone who lost his clearance 16 years ago knows more about super-secret Watergate-style wiretaps than the FBI Director!! Trump knows more than the generals about Iraq. Same principle. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/210 "2017-03-08T00:32:43Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > _Not_ an anonymous source. > > [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims](https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-07/nsa-whistleblower-bill-binney-says-trump-is-absolutely-right-about-wiretap-claims) > > “I think the president is absolutely right. His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored,” Bill Binney, a 36-year veteran of the National Security Agency who resigned in protest from the organization in 2001, told Fox Business on Monday. > … > “The evidence of the conversation of the president of the U.S., President Trump, and the [prime minister] of Australia and the president of Mexico. Releasing those conversations. Those are conversations that are picked up by the FAIRVIEW program, primarily, by NSA.” Not an anonymous source, but an irrelevant one. Didn’t Trump talk to Mexico and Australia when he was already president? Is this irrelevant, hasn’t-been-in-the-NSA-in-16-years source claiming that the NSA is tapping Trump’s phone now, while he’s president? In the Oval Office? On Air Force One? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/211 "2017-03-08T01:03:42Z")
Nothing on point, but found this relwavtm document re the assertion FISA judges rubberstamp warrant applications. See here.[https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/805311/ranking-member-grassley-letter-131011.pdf](https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/805311/ranking-member-grassley-letter-131011.pdf) Basically states about a quarter of applications require changes before they are finally approved. It’s not a submit, then 99% are accepted process. there’s a lot of back n forth once a warrant is initially submitted and 25% need to be redone before final submittal. The 99% is true but applies to final applications. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/212 "2017-03-08T06:56:54Z")
So on March 20 when the House Intelligence Committee concludes that there was no wire tapping of Trump’s phones, what is he going to do? He won’t accept that. There is no way he will admit he was wrong. It seems to me that he is setting his fans up for there to be a huge conspiracy against him if it’s found that there was collusion with Russia from his campaign. Just like when he thought he was going to lose the election and got them all to believe it was rigged. After the Wikileaks story today about the CIA, I’ve already heard folks saying that the CIA and the Democrats set up the Russians! (Why on earth the Democrats would want to fuck up the election doesn’t seem to occur to them.) We know his fans will not believe anything unless it comes from Trump. Or Fox News. Some of their folks are gleefully pushing the idea that Obama was an evil mastermind out to take down Trump. So what will he do? Go full-on conspiracy theory? How will the Republicans handle that? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/213 "2017-03-08T08:45:35Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > So on March 20 when the House Intelligence Committee concludes that there was no wire tapping of Trump’s phones, what is he going to do? He won’t accept that. There is no way he will admit he was wrong. He could do like he did with the birth certificate timeline and just lie about how it all happened. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/214 "2017-03-08T09:24:47Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > So on March 20 when the House Intelligence Committee concludes that there was no wire tapping of Trump’s phones, what is he going to do? He won’t accept that. There is no way he will admit he was wrong. > > It seems to me that he is setting his fans up for there to be a huge conspiracy against him if it’s found that there was collusion with Russia from his campaign. Just like when he thought he was going to lose the election and got them all to believe it was rigged. After the Wikileaks story today about the CIA, I’ve already heard folks saying that the CIA and the Democrats set up the Russians! (Why on earth the Democrats would want to fuck up the election doesn’t seem to occur to them.) We know his fans will not believe anything unless it comes from Trump. Or Fox News. Some of their folks are gleefully pushing the idea that Obama was an evil mastermind out to take down Trump. > > So what will he do? Go full-on conspiracy theory? How will the Republicans handle that? Generally keep their mouths shut and thank their lucky stars that they have such gullible followers that they can sell any story to. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/215 "2017-03-08T21:16:29Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > He could do like he did with the birth certificate timeline and just lie about how it all happened. You’ve hit on it, I think. Trump will announce that it was HILLARY who said that Trump’s phones were tapped. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/216 "2017-03-08T22:34:42Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > You’ve hit on it, I think. Trump will announce that it was HILLARY who said that Trump’s phones were tapped. Lock her up! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/217 "2017-03-08T23:49:43Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Lock her up! Seriously, as things go to hell, Trump is going to be desperate for some way, any way, to please his base. That might be what he hits on. He couldn’t do it lawfully, of course, but who knows what Sessions might be willing to gin up in support of the project? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/218 "2017-03-09T01:35:40Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > I’ve seen that same joke in at least 3 different places posted by 3 different people. And I’m willing to bet variations of “cornered in the oval office” joke has been made for decades. In a 1987 column, Dave Barry had a variation of that [joke](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-01-04/features/8701020079_1_chapter-two-columns-oval-office): > [@](#): > > Chapter One > > Behind the desk sat the President of the United States. To his left, in the corner, stood the secretary of state. Crater sensed that something was wrong. > > […] > > Chapter Three > > Suddenly, it struck Crater: The Oval Office doesn`t HAVE corners. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/219 "2017-03-09T03:13:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Seriously, as things go to hell, Trump is going to be desperate for some way, any way, to please his base. > > That might be what he hits on. He couldn’t do it lawfully, of course, but who knows what Sessions might be willing to gin up in support of the project? Surely the Republicans won’t continue to indulge his paranoid fantasies. I mean, I understand that some of them have waited 8 years to come up with something, anything to take down Obama (and, of course, Hillary) but just how far would the entire GOP let these things go? I know they are power hungry little shits but I can’t believe that deep down there isn’t some concern for the country. Is the fear of Trump tweeting bad things about you that paralyzing? I know McCain and Graham talk the talk but they are pretty ineffectual. Are there no GOP elder statesmen (Romney’s gagged) who are in no danger from Trump and care about what he’s doing? I know I’m just spitting in the wind here. But I never thought I’d see the day when the idea that the President is a delusional pathological liar is common knowledge and it seems that no one can/will shut him down. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/220 "2017-03-09T03:40:07Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > … > I know I’m just spitting in the wind here. But I never thought I’d see the day when the idea that the President is a delusional pathological liar is common knowledge and it seems that no one can/will shut him down. I believe this explains it: > [@The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1932): > > This is ALL that matters to House Republicans. Nothing else about Trump, his so-called policies, his behavior, his tweets, his lies-- nothing matters except > _“House Republicans set fundraising record in President Trump’s first full month”_ > [http://wapo.st/2nciDAW](http://wapo.st/2nciDAW) > > > [@](#): > > > > Quote: > > > > President Trump has been very good for Republican congressional fundraising. > > > > The National Republican Congressional Committee said Wednesday that it raised a record $10.5 million in February — the first full month of solid GOP control in Washington, with Republicans running the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. That is more than double the $5 million that the NRCC, the committee charged with electing Republicans to the House, raised in the last February of a non-election year. > > > > That haul follows another record month for the NRCC in January, in whichthe committee raised $10 million. That outpaced thecommittee’s counterparts at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who reported raising $7.8 million in January… > > Even if it’s a case of [_post hoc, ergo propter hoc_](http://skepdic.com/posthoc.html). Doesn’t matter. Right now he’s the gander that’s shitting golden eggs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=12)