Decency, Trump and Obama.

[Dill]

(03-05-2017, 06:01 PM)hollodero Wrote: So now a new high, or low, is reached yet again, when Trump blamed Obama for wiretapping him and called him a "sick guy". Please share your thoughts on that one. Especially - what should be the consequence if these accusations are indeed baseless and Obama did not order such a thing.

I give mine and then I shut up again. First, even if Trump was surveilled, that doesn't mean in any way that his claims were right, or correct, or however this is turned. He blamed Obama directly. If Obama wasn't directly involved, Trump lied. No nuance to defend his tweets there. Either Obama illegally ordered a wire tap, or Trump is an arsonist that has no intention of uniting the country.
takes place here. But I get why the opposition can't see it that way, so I drop that. Just wanted to say it once.

Excellent questions all. I will make a brief comment regarding the alleged wire-tapping.

A US president cannot legally or illegally "order" a wire tap on a US citizen. Only the FBI and NSA can do that. and They have to go through a judge first--present evidence, probable cause, etc. to get a warrant.  This is one of the Post-Nixon checks on presidential power.

The president can, through his Attorney General, order a warrantless wire tap on a foreign national, provided it captures no content from a US citizen or "minimized" content. But even that has to be ok'd by the AG and a FISA* court.

I would not assume that Trump "lied."  You may overestimate his knowledge of how government works. Trump is an avid follower of Brietbart and Infowars. He may have read  that someone--perhaps a foreign national--in one of his hotels was surveilled, believed that, and ASSUMED Obama ordered it.   It is entirely possible that he then tweeted out an accusation before a knowledgeable, responsible adult could get him under control. 

This, of course, is alarmingly bad judgment, there for all to see, including foreign powers. FBI director Comey says the allegation is completely false. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/us/politics/trump-seeks-inquiry-into-allegations-that-obama-tapped-his-phones.html?_r=0

If you don't believe Comey and the LYING NEW YORK TIMES, there is still another possibility, what I would call the Breitbart/Fox Scenario. Obama could have suggested through some very trusted National Security personnel that he would like to see Trump surveilled. And so some of his "deep state" operatives in the FBI engineered the surveillance at arms length from the president himself. Perhaps even unknown to Comey, or with his collusion. This would be the Watergate-level scandal Fox viewers have sought for years. Millions of Fox viewers are now out there waiting to see if government and mainstream media will hide the truth as they always did for the Clintons.


*Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978--a legacy of Nixon's presidential overreach.