By Mitch Wolfe
What did former President Obama know about the wiretapping of the Trump organization and its campaign. And when did he know it?
I personally believe that Obama will be held responsible for the unprecedented wiretapping of the campaign organization of Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. president during the presidential election- for partisan purposes.
In other words, the Obama Administration used government agencies under its control and influence to undermine the presidential campaign of Donald Trump against Obama’s preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton. And when that failed, Obama with his supporters still entrenched in these government agencies, used and is still using certain government people still loyal to him, to undermine the democratically and popularly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Yes folks, we have returned to “Watergate”, 2016-2017, aka “Obamagate”.
On Saturday, in a series of provocative tweets, President Trump accused the Obama team of conducting surveillance on Trump Tower and in effect the Trump campaign during the election and after the election.
Predictably, an Obama spokesman denied that Obama or the White House gave the order to wiretap the Trump Tower or any surveillance of Trump or his campaign. But the same spokesman stated that such a surveillance or wiretap would have come from an “independent investigation led by the Department of Justice.”
Conducting surveillance on Obama’s and the Democrats’ political enemies, namely Trump and his political organization
Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter tweeted a warning to presumably liberal mainstream reporters, ” I’d be careful about reporting that Obama said there was no wiretapping. Statement just said that neither he nor the WH ordered it.”
Recall the Guardian newspaper, through its own investigation and the investigation of former MP Louise Mensch disclosed in November, 2016 that the Obama Administration sought a court warrant from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), to monitor communications involving Trump’s staff in June, 2016, presumably Trump himself. This was denied but a more narrow court warrant authorizing such surveillance was granted in October, presumably against two individuals on the Trump team with ties to Russia being Paul Manafort and Carter Page.
Bottom line, the Obama government which includes the Department of Justice, run by Obama loyalist Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the FBI, which reports to Lynch and some counter-intelligence agencies have been conducting surveillance on Obama’s and the Democrats’ political enemies, namely Trump and his political organization.
This activity raises two important questions. Is such surveillance justified on national security grounds? And should Obama be held responsible, even if he did not personally order such wiretapping?
I believe the Obama Administration is wrongfully using the cover of national security in this case
Historically, American presidents and their administrations have used the cover of “national security or national defense” to engage in illegal or at least unethical actions. See Richard Nixon and the illegal Watergate break-in and cover up.
I believe the Obama Administration is wrongfully using the cover of national security in this case.
Wiretapping private American citizens is generally prohibited unless it can be shown that such individuals are engaging in the sale or theft of state secrets or that such individuals are agents of a foreign country and these agents are trying to influence American policies and American decision makers.
Though both Manafort and Page may have been advisers to Russian companies or entities ( in itself no crime), (Manafort resigned as national campaign manager for Trump in August, 2016 and Page in September, 2016), it makes no sense that they posed a national security threat as they had no influence over the Obama Administration or even Trump who was a mere presidential candidate, possessing no governmental power or decision making authority.
The only conclusion that can be drawn is that these government agencies; the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency, all populated by Obama/Clinton loyalists were investigating these persons for partisan political purposes in an effort to obtain embarrassing information so as to derail Trump’s campaign. And post-election, to delegitimize the Trump presidency and undercut Trump’s appointees.
There is a very strong smell of illegality and corruption in connection with how the conversations of Lt. General Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security advisor, and a private American citizen were wiretapped ( was that legal?) and supposedly national security- protected transcripts of his telephone conversations with the Russian ambassador were leaked by these very same pro Obama national security officials. The actual conversations were harmless. Flynn’s lying about the existence of these telephone calls was the cause of his resignation.
Finally, as to Obama’s personal culpability, the buck starts and stops with the president. Obama has turned the Department of Justice, the FBI, CIA and the NSA into biased, partisan, political arms of his presidency and the Democratic party.
In the middle of the FBI investigation of Clinton’s emails, Obama deemed Hillary innocent. Subsequent events prove that Loretta Lynch, head of the DOJ and the FBI marched to Obama’s order not to indict Hillary regardless of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
It follows that these agencies were also doing Obama’s bidding with respect to the questionable wiretapping of the Trump organization. Obama should be held to account, fully investigated and if found guilty, punished with the full force of American law.
Regardless, the jury of American public opinion will decide Obama guilty for these outrageous government actions against his political enemies.