Sean Spicer says Trump didn’t mean to personally accuse Obama
White House press secretary Sean Spicer discussed US President Donald Trump’s wiretapping claims against former POTUS Barack Obama. Spicer said Trump did not mean wiretapping when he talked about wiretapping on his Twitter posts.
"The President used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities, Spicer told the press on Monday. He explained that the president was pertaining to the previous administration generally and did not mean to accuse Obama of personal involvement.
Earlier this month, Trump tweeted “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
The latest statement from the White House regarding the president’s wiretapping claims come on the same day as the deadline for submitting proof to the House Intelligence Committee to back up Trump's claims. The Justice Department was tasked to provide evidence.
Before his latest statement, Spicer said Trump's tweet "speaks for itself” and refused to comment about the president’s social media posts related to wiretapping. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway had also commented about the aforementioned issue, saying what she does aware about is that there are several ways to surveil each other.
In an interview Sunday with the Bergen County Record, columnist Mike Kelly asked the counsellor to the White House if she knows whether wiretapping took place at the Trump Tower. "What I can say is there are many ways to surveil each other," she replied. She said surveillance could be possible with the use of phones, televisions, or "microwaves that turn into cameras."
Trump or any official from the White House has not provided proof to the president’s wiretapping claims. Several former officials have denied the existence of any warrant to wiretap Trump Tower, which served as Trump’s headquarter during the 2016 presidential election.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the Department of Justice is asking for "additional time" to gather evidence to support the president’s claim. "The Department of Justice has asked for more time to comply with the House Intelligence Committee's request for information related to possible surveillance of Donald Trump or his associates during the election campaign," a spokesman for Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
Obama has denied the claim through a spokesman. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also denied the allegations. FBI Director James Comey allegedly pushed back the wiretapping claims that involve the former president.
