The White House on Monday attempted to defend President Trumpâs unfounded claim that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower near the end of the presidential campaign, sending out several administration officials â both on and off camera â to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence.
In tweets over the weekend, Trump claimed he had âjust learnedâ that Obama wiretapped his midtown Manhattan skyscraper, where he lives and which housed his presidential campaign â accusing the former president of a potentially illegal act and writing that Obama was a âbad (or sick) guy.â
Trump has since provided no proof to back up his assertion, which has been refuted by Obama, FBI Director James Comey and former director of national intelligence James Clapper Jr. On Monday, senior administration officials contorted themselves trying to defend the presidentâs claims, which seemed to emanate largely in response to a rant on conservative talk radio and in an article on Breitbart News, the conservative website that Stephen Bannon, Trumpâs chief strategist, used to lead.
Speaking to reporters from the White House briefing room without cameras present, White House press secretary Sean Spicer referred reporters to his weekend statement calling on the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate the wiretapping charges as part of their broader probe of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He refused to add clarity or context to Trumpâs Twitter missives, saying neither the president nor the White House would comment further until the congressional investigations are completed.
âIâm just going to let the tweet speak for itself,â Spicer said. âI think the president speaks very candidly.â
Spicer, citing news reports, said there is sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation at the congressional level.
âI think that thereâs no question that something happened. The question is, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap or whatever?â Spicer said. âBut thereâs been enough reporting that strongly suggests that something occurred.â
Asked whether he could unequivocally say that Trumpâs tweet was based on more than a talk radio report and the Breitbart article, Spicer declined, again referring to his calls for the intelligence panels to take the lead.
Asked about the specific sourcing behind the presidentâs tweets, Spicer said there are several options: âIt could be FISA, it could be surveillance,â he said, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, under which a secret court can issue warrants for electronic surveillance on potential spies or terrorists. If there was a FISA wiretap of Trump during the campaign, it would mean that the court had found there was probable cause to believe he was acting as an âagent of a foreign power,â as the law requires.
In perhaps the clearest sign of the uncomfortable situation the presidentâs tweets created for his aides, the normally media-hungry White House went largely dark Monday. Although several top officials did defend Trump in TV interviews, Spicer did not allow cameras into the briefing room for his news conference Monday, and Trump signed an executive order for his revamped travel ban in private.
Speaking on NBCâs âMeet the Pressâ on Sunday, Clapper did provide the White House with a bit of cover, saying there was âno evidenceâ of collusion between Trump and Russia during the campaign. But he also undercut the presidentâs assertion that Obama had wiretapped him, saying, âThere was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign.â
Spicer urged reporters to note Clapperâs comments about an apparent lack of collusion, but gave less weight to his remarks refuting Trumpâs claims of wiretapping. Asked about the difference, Spicer said, âHe said that he wasnât aware of anything. I take him at his word that he wasnât aware, but that doesnât mean that it didnât exist.â
This reverse-engineering of evidence has happened before, as when the president declared erroneously that his inauguration crowd was the largest in history and when he claimed without evidence that at least 3 million undocumented immigrants illegally voted for Hillary Clinton in the general election.
The public face of this latest effort has mostly been deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was dispatched to a Sunday news show â even though Spicer and chief of staff Reince Priebus usually take that task â and to two Monday morning talk shows.
Sanders admitted that she had not discussed the matter with the president, and she lacked answers to questions. When asked Monday by ABC Newsâ George Stephanopoulos whether the president accepted that Comey had refuted his tweets, Sanders responded: âYou know, I donât think he does.â
Like Spicer, Sanders claimed Trumpâs accusations are supported by news media reports, even though a list of such articles provided by the White House contained no such evidence. She also attempted to recast the presidentâs words with a softer tone.
âLook, the president firmly believes that the Obama administration may have tapped into the phones at Trump Tower,â Sanders said on NBCâs âToday Showâ on Monday. âThis is something that we should look into. Weâd like to know for sure.â
Sanders repeatedly urged that the press and others give the president the same benefit of the doubt that they seemed to be giving to those accusing the Trump campaign of coordinating with the Russian government.
âLook,â Sanders said on the âToday Show,â âI havenât had the chance to have the conversation directly with the president, and heâs at a much higher classification than I am, so he may have access to documents that I donât know about, but I do know that we take this very seriously.â
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway followed a similar script Monday on Fox Newsâ âFox and Friends,â saying there have been numerous media reports that there was âpolitically motivated activity all during the campaign and suggesting that there may be more there.â
âHeâs the president of the United States,â Conway said. âHe has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not. And thatâs the way it should be for presidents.â
At times, it seemed that even West Wing officials had not coordinated their responses with one another. Asked about Conwayâs comment Monday, Spicer said he hadnât talked with her about what she meant.
âI canât specifically respond to you in terms of what she was referring to, whether she was referring to the exact nature of this charge or whether generally speaking he is given information,â Spicer said.
Ultimately, the White House all but stated that the best person to explain or defend the presidentâs claims was the president himself. Asked by a reporter how it was appropriate for Trump to make an explosive statement and then send out his aides to âclean it up,â Spicer again referred back to Trumpâs social media feed.
âThe presidentâs tweets,â he said, âspeak for themselves.â
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