# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/301 "2017-03-14T00:31:25Z")
Too big? Trump seems to prefer fast food. I gather there are several restaurants in Trump Tower, and the kitchen and staff at the White House have a pretty good reputation. Let’s not miss the point. President Trump is reported to have sent 4 tweets on this issue, alleging the previous POTUS perpetrated what has been characterized in news reports as a felony. Obama’s got too much class to dignify the accusation with a denial. And now the Trump administration is embroiled in yet another controversy, while matters of State languish as a result. There are for example many many unfilled posts in the new Trump government, including departments without department heads, leaving them leaderless. And instead of attending to that, or delegating it (I bet VP Pence could take care of that), Trump is pressing for his agenda. This is what happens when you hire an amateur. ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/302 "2017-03-14T01:10:57Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > …If you want to crow that I made a false claim because you think that “has until tomorrow” is not a deadline, or that “Traitor Trump loses either way” or “which will only settle once and for all the fact that you cannot believe one word that comes from this traitor’s mouth” count as it bringing down Trump, I’m not going to argue English language usage. … None of those things “count as it bringing down Trump.” Contrary to your claim, no one here has argued that Trump will be brought down by this particular failure. All that people have argued is that Trump will further his reputation as a liar by failing to substantiate his ‘Obama tapp [sic]’ claims. In the English language, reinforcement of Trump’s reputation as a liar is not the same thing as Trump being ‘brought down.’ It just isn’t. ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/303 "2017-03-14T01:18:25Z")
[Justice Dept. asks for more time on wiretapping evidence](https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/conway-suggests-surveillance-trump-went-beyond-phones-100816342--politics.html) > [@](#): > > Facing a Monday deadline, the Justice Department asked lawmakers for more time to provide evidence backing up President Donald Trump’s unproven assertion that his predecessor wiretapped his New York skyscraper during the election. The request came as the White House appeared to soften Trump’s explosive allegation. All this time, I thought Trump had solid evidence that made him so confident that he was a victim of wiretapping. Guess I was wrong. [Congress Had to Tell Donald Trump to Stop Deleting His Tweets](http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/news/a21359/congress-had-to-tell-donald-trump-to-stop-deleting-his-tweets/) > [@](#): > > Donald Trump might be done tweeting and deleting—at least if he listens to Congress. This weeks, two members of Congress sent the White House a letter warning them that Trump and his staff might be violating federal law when they delete tweets from the president’s official accounts, according to Teen Vogue. > > The letter (which is available to [read in full here](https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017-03-08-JEC-EEC-to-McGahn-WH-Presidential-Records-Act-due-3-22.pdf))[PDF] warns that tweets from both the @realDonaldTrump and the official @POTUS accounts “are likely to be presidential records and therefore must be preserved.” If those deleted tweets aren’t archived, then Trump and his staff could be violating the Presidential Records Act. Added PDF note. Seems Trump has trouble not destroying records. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/304 "2017-03-14T01:25:43Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Pop Tarts don’t go in a microwave. [Microwave on high for 3 seconds.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U) ---
**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 14, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/305 "2017-03-14T01:32:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > [Microwave on high for 3 seconds.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U) Knew who that was going to be without opening the link. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/306 "2017-03-14T01:48:18Z")
you know spicer is starting to sound like the apologetic abused one too many times wife of the towns alky abusive sob… “he didn’t mean it that way” "that’s not what he said " he didn’t mean to hurt anyone " ect … Actually kellogss help line said you can warm up poptarts in a toaster over if that counts … ---
**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 14, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/307 "2017-03-14T03:07:31Z")
Poptarts are MUCH better when done in a toaster oven until they’re quite brown around the edges. A guy I used to know would then put them in a bowl and smother them with vanilla ice cream. Yum! Carry on. ---
**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 14, 2017, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/308 "2017-03-14T06:00:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > No, we’re all confused. According to Sean Spicer, when Trump said tapp he didn’t mean wiretapping. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w) > > [Of course, Kellyanne Conway thinks Obama is spying on us with our microwaves, so …](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/us/politics/kellyanne-conway-obama-microwave-surveillance.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur) I suggest we get together and FedEx a case of tin foil hats to: White House Senior Aides 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 (Odd, I always thought the WH’s zip code was 20001, but that’s a few blocks away. Guess it has its own.) … > [@](#): > > Donald Trump might be done tweeting and deleting—at least if he listens to Congress. This weeks, two members of Congress sent the White House a letter warning them that Trump and his staff might be violating federal law when they delete tweets from the president’s official accounts, according to Teen Vogue. > > The letter (which is available to read in full here)[PDF] warns that tweets from both the @realDonaldTrump and the official @POTUS accounts “are likely to be presidential records and therefore must be preserved.” If those deleted tweets aren’t archived, then Trump and his staff could be violating the Presidential Records Act. Hahaha I love the inherent justice of saving his tweets for posterity. Let 'em eat cake… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/309 "2017-03-14T06:51:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Hahaha I love the inherent justice of saving his tweets for posterity. Let 'em eat cake… I love the idea of the Trump administration taking legal advice from Teen Vogue. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/310 "2017-03-14T07:18:07Z")
So will there be a tweet archive in the Trump Presidential Library? For that matter, will there be anything BUT tweets in the Trump Presidential Library? ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/311 "2017-03-14T13:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > " will there be anything BUT tweets in the Trump Presidential Library? " BE #310 Perhaps a Taco Bell, and Make America Great Again hat & T-shirt concession. The Trump administration missed the Monday deadline to provide their evidence of the “wire tap”. And it seems they may miss the March 20 deadline before the committee hearing on it. ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/312 "2017-03-14T14:00:18Z")
PS “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” Uber-lefty Denis Kucinich has come to Trump’s defense on this issue. Kucinich defends his support of trump based upon information Kucinich received after he left office, that he had been target of federal surveillance while he was in office, incident to Kucinich’s contact with the representative of a foreign government. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/313 "2017-03-14T14:10:24Z")
They want Congress to investigate…but they refuse to cooperate with Congress. Is there anything akin to “filing false police reports” when it comes to Congress? ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/314 "2017-03-14T14:31:50Z")
C #313 Your question may be much more perceptive than you’re letting on here C. You’re right. Congress writes laws to its own benefit. Who else in the U.S. can vote themselves a $pay $raise, and routinely do? There are laws in the U.S. against DWI. BUT !! Because there’s a provision against impeding an MOC to legislative duties, MOC can drive themselves to the capitol blind drunk, and the Constitution says the COPs can’t arrest them for it. So to answer your question directly, probably not. And there’s likely a quid pro quo between the exec & congress in return. Perhaps the judiciary doesn’t need any of that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/315 "2017-03-14T14:40:20Z")
> [@sear](#): > > C #313. Stop right there. I am not an initial and a number-My user name is Czarcasm. If typing my name is too much effort for you, then figuring out your codes is too much effort for me. ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/316 "2017-03-14T14:56:44Z")
C #315 Thanks much. Message received and understood. When the picture doesn’t make any sense, a piece of the puzzle is missing. For simple names like Joe Blow, typing it out is not too burdensome. But if I made a typing error in typing such pseud (as I have in the past), there’d be a stink about that. There’s also a word in the English language that can be pronounced like your pseud, but they are not spelled the same. Perhaps the obvious solution might seem: - type out the simple ones, - cut & paste the more complicated ones. For a long time, to avoid spelling such pseudonyms inaccurately, I did indeed C-&-P them. But that is tedious, cumbersome, and in the long haul, prohibitive. It is flattering to be referred to by initial. JC comes to mind. But there’s also: TR FDR JFK LBJ GWB among a few more distinguished others. In addition, that format, arrived at by posting perhaps 100,000 or more, since the previous millennium, imparts the additional benefit of informing all the other posters and lurkers which specific post I’m commenting on so they may put my comment in full context, if they wish to do so. It’s a courtesy and convenience to them. However, if you’re more comfortable inferring insult where none is intended or implied, that’s fine. But in that case, why not simply ignore me? Yuku, where I’m an administrator, has an “ignore” feature. Whether “boards” offers such feature, I do not know. But if not, I invite you to ignore me the old-fashioned way, and be sure and enjoy your Pi Day (3/14) with extra gusto. kind regards s #~316 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/317 "2017-03-14T15:13:12Z")
Sear, I’m giving you a warning for this. Intentionally repeating behavior you’ve been informed in confusing and irritating isn’t anywhere near best practices. Keep it up and your tenure here will be short. ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/318 "2017-03-14T15:42:40Z")
JC #317 Please ban me permanently immediately. As I am both moderator & administrator elsewhere on the Internet, I’m constantly exploring current events sites, my primary interest. I have no wish to post at any site where one poster has a VETO over the posting style of another; particularly when my posting style is so highly refined and benevolently intended. If I had the power to permanently ban myself here, I’d already have done so. If you do, please do. If you do not, please make whatever arrangements are necessary to ban the pseud “sear” (all lower case if you please) in all fora at this site, for all future time. Many thanks in advance. s PS Your failure to ban me permanently risks my cyber-return, to deliberately violate this silly rule; until you do. Please spare all concerned that needless formality. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/319 "2017-03-14T15:53:34Z")
s #318 I ask that you reconsider k ---
**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 14, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/320 "2017-03-14T15:56:45Z")
> [@sear](#): > > … > If I had the power to permanently ban myself here, I’d already have done so. > If you do, please do. > If you do not, please make whatever arrangements are necessary to ban the pseud “sear” (all lower case if you please) in all fora at this site, for all future time. > … > PS > Your failure to ban me permanently risks my cyber-return, to deliberately violate this silly rule; until you do. > Please spare all concerned that needless formality. “Dear god, stop me before I post again!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=17)