The White House has dismissed claims by FBI Director James Comey that the DOJ never sought to spy on Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign in an attempt to link them to Russian officials and financiers.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer insisted insisted something happened, ramping up the Administration’s claim from accusation of wiretapping to general surveillance.
“There’s no question that something happened. The question is it, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap or whatever?” Spicer said during Monday afternoon’s White House press briefing. “There has been enough reporting that strongly suggesting [sic] something occurred.”
“There’s enough out there now that makes one wonder how some of this happened without the existence of surveillance,” Spicer added.
He seemed to take care to craft his words to encompass a realm of possibilities beyond simply the FBI listening in on phone calls or accessing a campaign server.
Spicer also claimed the White House hadn’t heard from Director Comey, and refused to answer questions about why Trump didn’t simply contact FBI administrators himself to clarify whether he was the subject of an investigation.
On Monday night, Department of Homeland Security secretary Josh Kelly went on CNN to say that the President has good reason to believe the Obama Administration targeted his campaign, though he has yet to provide the media with concrete evidence.
“If the president of the United States said that, he’s got his reasons to say it,” Kelly told The Situation Room. “He’s got some convincing evidence that that took place.”
When pressed, Kelly couldn’t reveal any further details.
Trump and his senior advisers have been at odds over allegations of wiretapping since the President tweeted about his predecessor investigating his Presidential campaign back on Saturday.
His claims seem to confirm a Heat Street report from last November, alleging that the super-secretive FISA court entertained – but ultimately denied – a warrant seeking information from a server located in Trump Tower.
A separate, more detailed request was reportedly granted. The server in question, it seems, turned out to be located not at Trump Tower, but in Pennsylvania.
The Obama Administration denies that they requested a wiretap on “any American citizen,” but has refused to clarify whether that means they ordered an investigation into Trump’s campaign, or into Russian officials.
Clearly, Trump’s team intends to continue the confrontation well into the week, working on Congressional Republicans to begin an inquiry into Trump’s allegations.
