Josh Earnest: It May 'Come As Some Surprise' To Trump That Prez Can't Order Wiretap
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/josh-earnest-trump-obama-wiretap
Earnest: It May 'Come As Some Surprise' To Trump That Prez Can't Order Wiretap
By Esme Cribb
Published March 5, 2017, 10:54 AM EDT
Videos at link~
Former White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Sunday that it "may come as some surprise" to President Donald Trump that the president of the United States cannot in fact "unilaterally order" the surveillance of a U.S. citizen.
"This may come as some surprise to the current occupant of the Oval Office, but the president of the United States does not have the authority to unilaterally order the wiretapping of an American citizen," Earnest said on ABC's "This Week."
"If the FBI decided to use their wiretapping authority in the context of a counterintelligence or criminal investigation, it would require FBI investigators, officials of the Department of Justice, going to a federal judge and making a case and demonstrating probable cause to use that authority to conduct the investigation," he said. "That is a fact."
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