In the wake of growing bipartisan calls for President Trump to provide evidence for his wiretapping claims against Obama or shut up, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to walk back the claim to reporters this Monday.
Long story short: Trump didn’t mean “Obama” per se.
“I think there’s no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election,” Spicer said during Monday’s press conference. “The President used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities.”
Spicer also claimed that Trump wasn’t specifically targeting Obama with his comments, just his administration as a whole. But Trump’s language was undeniably specific in his initial tweets, referring to Obama specifically at least three times.
“How low has President Obama gone to tapp (sic) my phones during the very sacred election process,” Trump tweeted on March 4. “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
From CNN:
Spicer’s comments came on the same say as the deadline for the Justice Department to provide evidence to the House Intelligence Committee to back up Trump’s claim. The White House has so far refused to provide any evidence, and numerous former officials have denied the existence of any warrant to wiretap Trump Tower.
A week earlier, Spicer said Trump’s tweet “speaks for itself” and declined to provide any further explanation.
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