Pre-and-post election, pro-Hillary forces, supported by media, invented reasons to vilify Trump, wanting him delegitimized.
Failing to prevent his electoral triumph, relentless attacks continue. Targeting key administration officials Michael Flynn, Jeff Sessions, Kellyanne Conway and likely others to come is part of a sinister plot to weaken him – ahead of likely aiming to oust him from office for the wrong reasons.
There’s plenty about his agenda to criticize. Instead the Big Lie about nonexistent Russian US election hacking persists.
So do phony allegations of Trump’s links to Russian officials and banks, able to influence his decision-making.
The fake news dossier about his sexual escapades in Moscow sounds like a grade B Hollywood film plot. Endless accusations persist.
Obama denying he ordered Trump Tower wiretapped through his spokesman rang hollow – a statement saying “(n)either President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen.”
Edward Snowden revealed extensive NSA electronic surveillance. So did former Office of Naval Intelligence/Defense Intelligence Agency/NSA analyst Russell Tice.
In December 2005, he accused the NSA and DIA of unconstitutionally wiretapping US citizens. He got national attention, saying:
Everyone at NSA knew what they were doing was illegal, because it’s drilled into our heads over and over that it’s against NSA policy, that you do not do that. The choice is to speak out and get fired.
Bush administration officials sanctioned it. So did Obama’s. Lawless spying is pervasive with or without court authorized warrants – including on foreign leaders, political enemies, ordinary Americans, journalists, and Donald Trump if he’s got evidence proving it.
Obama’s deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes lied, tweeting “no president can order a wiretap.”
They do it legally through FISA court warrants obtained for reasons of national security and illegally, likely more of the latter than the former unaccountably.
Senator Ben Sasse (R. NE) issued a statement, saying “(t)he president today made some very serious allegations, and the informed citizens that a republic requires deserve more information.”
If there were wiretaps of then-candidate Trump’s organization or campaign, then it was either with FISA Court authorization or without such authorization.
If without, the president should explain what sort of wiretap it was and how he knows this. It is possible that he was illegally tapped.
If his allegation is true, evidence in FISA court records will show it. Congress should demand an investigation to prove or disprove his claim.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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