President Trump and his allies have maintained that they will be proven right in the end: President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump's phones during the 2016 campaign.
For Trump, that day came Wednesday. Kind of.
A top Republican lawmaker, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.), revealed he has evidence that “it's possible” that conversations related to Trump — or even by Trump — were picked up incidentally by the intelligence community. When asked whether he felt vindicated by this news, Trump told reporters: "I somewhat do. I very much appreciate the fact they found what they found."
This is a significant development, but it doesn't vindicate the president.
In fact, Nunes is making the OPPOSITE case.
Nunes, a Trump ally, told reporters Wednesday. If there was any spying, it didn't appear to have anything to do with the president.
So what DID happen?
I have to give you an unsatisfying answer, but I'm going to: We don't fully know. Here's what we can piece together:
1) Nunes says he has evidence that conversations between the president and his inner circle were probably wrapped up in unrelated surveillance. That means Trump and/or his team may have talked to people under surveillance sometime during or shortly after the election.
2) Nunes asserts that none of the conversations he has seen have anything to do with Russia. The FBI and Congress are investigating Russian meddling in the U.S. election and whether Trump's team had any involvement in it.
3) Nunes did not say how he found this out, only that someone stepped forward — legally — with the evidence. And he shared it because he thought the president should know.
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Here’s why the latest Trump-Russia revelations are so important.
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Paul Manafort’s long, murky history of political interventions.
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President Trump’s former campaign chairman and his protege, Rick Gates, worked with oligarchs tied to Vladimir Putin over the past decade.
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Newspaper & online reporters and analysts explore the cultural and news stories of the week, with photos frequently added by Esco20, and reveal their significance (with a slant towards Esco 20's opinions)