“Earlier in the day a report emerged showing the VA itself warned Obama's transition team about it after the 2008 election. “Obama and his surrogates have claimed he learned of several other scandals from broadcast or print news stories. “They include Operation Fast and Furious, the IRS's targeting of tea parties and a DOJ seizure of two months of Associated Press phone records. “VA medical centers stand accused of keeping secret off-the-books waiting lists in order to cook the books and boost performance stats. “As many as 40 veterans died in Phoenix when they were denied critical care because their names didn't appear on official waiting lists.”Reading about scandals in news reports was acceptable for then President Obama but not for now President Donald Trump. Yesterday Trump promised that Americans will soon see 'some very interesting items' that could shed light on his still-unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama 'wiretapped' his phones.
“Trump dangled the possibility during an interview with Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson in Michigan, even as top congressional leaders of the Intelligence committees said they have seen no evidence to support the president's March 4 claims. (Daily Mail) '"Wiretap" covers a lot of different things,' Trump cautioned Carlson, suggesting that he might turn up evidence of other kinds of surveillance. “Asked how he concluded he was being snooped on, Trump cited a January 20 New York Times article 'where they were talking about wiretapping. There was an article, I think they used that exact term.'
“'To date I've seen no evidence that supports the claim that President Trump made,' said Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democrats' ranking committee member. “'Thus far we have seen no basis for that whatsoever,' he told reporters alongside fellow Californian Devin Nunes, the committee's Republican chairman. “Nunes added: 'We don't have any evidence that that took place.'Former President Barack Obama is said to have 'rolled his eyes' when he first heard news of Trump's allegations. Schiff said Wednesday that he and Nunes have given the Justice Department until next Monday to answer written questions about whether it had applied for warrants to surveil Trump and his associates.
'We're both willing to use compulsory process if that's necessary,' he said, referring to the subpoena power granted to Congress, 'though neither of us, I think, believe that will be necessary.’ “Previous attorneys general have ignored congressional subpoenas, including Obama's DOJ chief Eric Holder – who was later held in criminal contempt of Congress for it. “FBI Director James Comey will be grilled next Monday in an Intelligence Committee hearing, the majority of which Nunes and Schiff expect they will be able to conduct in public. 'It deeply concerns me that the president would make such an accusation without basis,' Schiff said. “Nunes hinted that the Intelligence Committee could have problems establishing that because the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was reluctant to let Congress have access to its high-tech materials that could establish Trump was right. “He said it wasn't clear 'whether or not they are going to let us have the proper computer technology that we need to go through the evidence that exists out at the CIA, out at Langley, and we are trying to work through that.’ 'I can tell you it has become a little bit of a stumbling block for our investigators to actually be able to compile and cull through the information.' “But Nunes said that while Trump claimed Obama personally engaged in secret surveillance, Americans would have to decide whether to season his tweets with a grain of salt. 'President Obama wouldn't physically go over and wiretap Trump Tower, so now you have to decide ... are you going to take the tweets literally, and if you are, then clearly the president was wrong,' he told reporters. 'If you're not going to take the tweets literally and there's a concern that the president has about other people, other surveillance activities looking at him or his associates either appropriately or inappropriately, we want to find that out. I think it's all in the interpretation of what you believe.’ “The president sent a barrage of tweets on March 4 claiming that Obama 'tapped' his phones’. “On the other side of the Capitol, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham gave Comey until a hearing this afternoon to provide proof that the DOJ obtained a warrant for the alleged Trump surveillance or declare once and for all none exists. “The FBI told his staff minutes before testimony was due to begin that it would respond to a March 8 letter Graham and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse sent asking for information about warrants that may have been requested against Trump in a 'classified briefing.’ 'Apparently the FBI has contacted my staff [and said] that they will be at some date in the future providing us an answer to this in a classified manner,' Graham stated. “Whitehouse scolded the FBI for refusing to make a public promise that it will 'get to the bottom of this.’ “Using a baseball metaphor, he said, 'That is a recipe for having the ball drop between the second baseman and the short stop. 'We are entitled to investigate under the constitution. They have executive responsibilities. And if we are only connecting with one another in a classified fashion, I don't think that serves the public interest.’ “This FBI's response to Graham came after he levied threats at the law enforcement agency on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. “'Congress is going to flex its muscle here,' the Republican lawmaker warned Comey in a Wednesday morning appearance on the 'Today' show.”Congress flexing its muscles is something that will never be seen, Senator Graham, mostly because Congress has no muscles to speak of to flex. And FBI head honcho James Comey, who looks like the cat that swallowed the cream in most media photos, is hardly shaking in his well-heeled shoes. “If the FBI official continues to dodge, Graham said he will issue his own subpoena for the information and hold up the nomination of the deputy attorney general until he gets what he wants. “'We'll issue a subpoena to get the information,' he said on Today. 'We'll hold up the deputy attorney general nomination until Congress is provided with information to finally clear the air as to whether or not there was ever a warrant issued against the Trump campaign.' (Washington Post, March 15, 2017) “The Justice Department could not have legally surveilled Trump without a court-ordered warrant, Graham argued, and so far, he's seen no evidence that one was ever issued. 'I have no evidence of it. I'm suspicious of it, but now getting concerned because it's taking so long to answer my letter,' Graham said.” The kangaroo court about whether or not Trump was wiretapped will go on without Obama, who has taken himself out of the picture by pitching up for a month at a Papeete luxury resort frequented by Hollywood stars, according to local TV channel Tahiti Nui TV. (Telegraph, March 16, 2017)
“The former US president landed on the tourist island Tahiti without his family before going to Marlon Brando's privately owned retreat Tetiaroa atoll, which the Oscar-winning actor bought in the 1960s. “Obama has checked into the eco-friendly Brando resort, whose villas boast their own plunge pools and cost between 2,000 euros ($2,150) and 12,300 euros per night. “No political meetings have been announced during Obama's stay and it is not clear what he plans to do during the sojourn or whether his family will join him.”In an Internet world, you no longer have to attend meetings in person to be there, and It is for certain, that Tahiti has both telephones and Wifi. Meanwhile: Earth to, super spies Schiff, Nunes, and widdle Lindsey Graham: If you were setting out to wiretap your enemies, would you leave a paper trail behind?
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.
