Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
U.S. allies shaken by Donald Trump's wiretap tweets about Obama
The Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Mar. 05, 2017 7:29PM EST
...
Mr. Trump’s accusation that former president Barack Obama ordered wiretaps of his phones in Trump Tower, levelled with no evidence cited, left only bad scenarios possible, as another Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, suggested Saturday: Either the former president used U.S. intelligence for illegal political surveillance, or investigators had enough probable cause of collusion between Mr. Trump’s team in Russia to get a warrant.
There’s a third bad scenario, of course, one that seems more likely after former director of national intelligence James Clapper denied wiretapping of Trump Tower on Sunday – that President Trump casually made unsubstantiated accusations so reckless they shake faith in the fundaments of U.S. government.
That is now piled onto questions about contacts between Trump associates and Russia, which, according to the U.S. intelligence, tried to interfere in the presidential election. Those questions that have grown not because of the contacts themselves but because senior Trump officials, notably U.S. Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, made misleading statements about them.
Now, no matter who you think is telling the truth in this Washington spy drama, it’s hard to argue with Mr. Clapper’s comment on Meet the Press on Sunday: “Certainly the Russians have to be chortling at their efforts to sow dissension in this country.”
...
Mr. Trump’s accusation that former president Barack Obama ordered wiretaps of his phones in Trump Tower, levelled with no evidence cited, left only bad scenarios possible, as another Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, suggested Saturday: Either the former president used U.S. intelligence for illegal political surveillance, or investigators had enough probable cause of collusion between Mr. Trump’s team in Russia to get a warrant.
There’s a third bad scenario, of course, one that seems more likely after former director of national intelligence James Clapper denied wiretapping of Trump Tower on Sunday – that President Trump casually made unsubstantiated accusations so reckless they shake faith in the fundaments of U.S. government.
That is now piled onto questions about contacts between Trump associates and Russia, which, according to the U.S. intelligence, tried to interfere in the presidential election. Those questions that have grown not because of the contacts themselves but because senior Trump officials, notably U.S. Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, made misleading statements about them.
Now, no matter who you think is telling the truth in this Washington spy drama, it’s hard to argue with Mr. Clapper’s comment on Meet the Press on Sunday: “Certainly the Russians have to be chortling at their efforts to sow dissension in this country.”
...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-allies-shaken-by-donald-trumps-wiretap-tweets-about-obama/article34210512/
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
