Last week, a report circulated which indicated "the Obama administration conducted more than 35,000 searches on NSA intercepts seeking information about Americans during the divisive 2016 election year."
"Incidental" surveillance
Obviously, the biggest fish caught in the "incidental surveillance" net was President Donald Trump. The former administration has been claiming that Trump was never targeted, he was just surveilled due to associations with others.
Now, one U.S Senator is looking to test the veracity of that assertion - at least as it pertains to his own presidential bid.
Senator Rand Paul is demanding to know if he was the subject of similarly "incidental" surveillance, and has submitted a formal request to the President and Intel communities in an effort to find out:
Did the Obama admin go after presidential candidates, members of Congress, journalists, clergy, lawyers, fed judges? https://t.co/h7rsjvNLHM
This could get ...interesting.
All along, Obama officials have been desperate to sell the idea that their surveillance activities were completely above-board. The unmasking scandal showed that they probably weren't but, if you could prove that other 2016 candidates suffered the same fate as team Trump, you'd have a solid case to support accusations of political targeting.
Senator Paul is not a guy to make a move like this lightly. If he's making this decision public, it's a safe bet that he's already heard rumblings of something going on behind the scenes.
We shall see...
