By Aaron Blake, September 19, 2017

At some point on Tuesday, President Trump and/or the White House will likely claim vindication — vindication of Trump's tweets that President Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election.

CNN reported Monday night that the government wiretapped Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, both before and after the 2016 campaign using FISA (or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrants. It is not known whether Trump himself was wrapped up in those wiretaps, CNN reports. The Washington Post has not confirmed the warrants. Only CBS News has been able to substantiate parts of the report, citing one anonymous source.

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There are three elements here: 1) Trump's “wires” were “tapped”, 2) It happened at Trump Tower, and 3) Obama did it.

The first part is still unproven. If the CNN report is correct, there is still no indication that Trump himself was targeted by wiretapping; the report leaves open the possibility that a conversation with Trump may have been swept up in the Manafort tap, but we have no indication that it was.

Even if it was, Trump wasn't the named target of the wiretap. This would be what's known as “incidental collection.” You may recall that phrase from the last time the White House claimed some measure of vindication for Trump's wiretapping claim, when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) disclosed that members of Trump's transition team were wrapped up in other legal surveillance that wasn't targeted at them.

The second part — the Trump Tower part — is also possibly true based on what CNN reported, though again we just don't know for sure. While Trump himself wasn't the reported target of the wiretap, Manafort did have an apartment at Trump Tower, so it's possible that location was, in fact, wiretapped.

As for the third part, on Obama, Trump's tweet again seems to claim more than CNN is reporting. FISA warrants require sign-off from top Justice Department and FBI officials, but Trump was suggesting that Obama was personally involved.

It's worth noting in all of this that Trump's own Justice Department has cast doubt on his claim. In a court filing earlier this month, it said flatly that, “Both FBI and [its national security division] confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets.” Then-FBI Director James B. Comey also said back in March that there was no evidence to support the claims.

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Overall, the fact remains that in more than six months since Trump tweeted them, both Trump and his Justice Department haven't produced any validation of his specific claims. If it exists, they are withholding it for completely unclear reasons.

Update: Comey's lawyer has responded to the report and subsequent suggestions that Comey's testimony might have been wrong. "I don’t believe Jim is aware of any information that would cause him to second guess or change his testimony,” said David N. Kelley.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-...m=.e5a2b3f1c061

Here's the FOX News version of the same story....
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Trump vindicated? Manafort wiretapping report lends credence to claim

A new report that former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was wiretapped under secret court order could bolster President Trump’s explosive March claim about surveillance under the previous administration, after months of media mockery.

The CNN report said the surveillance of Manafort continued into early 2017, covering the period before and after the November presidential election. This reportedly covered a stretch when Manafort was known to talk to Trump, though it’s unclear whether Trump’s discussions were ever picked up.

Also unclear is where the wiretapping occurred. Manafort has a residence in Trump Tower, as well as a home in Alexandria, Va.

But the report has forced the media to give a second look at Trump’s widely derided claims this past March that former President Barack Obama had his “wires tapped” at Trump Tower. The hashtag “TrumpVindicated” was taking off on Twitter Tuesday morning.

Andrew Napolitano, Fox News senior judicial analyst, said the latest report is “absolutely consistent” with allegations made by Trump and others. And WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange took a jab at CNN for slamming the president’s surveillance claims earlier this year.

Back in March, the same outlet declared Trump’s claim “baseless” – it was hardly alone in doing so, as PolitiFact also called the statements “false.”

Trump, in a seemingly puzzling tweetstorm at the time, said in March that Obama had his wires tapped before the election.

“I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!” he wrote, later adding: “This is Nixon/Watergate.”

An Obama spokesman at the time adamantly denied that Obama or any White House official ordered such surveillance.

The latest report does not indicate Obama was involved. It also does not make clear whether Trump himself was tapped or whether Trump Tower was wired, but leaves open the possibility.

"If true, it is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA warrant, regardless of the fact that no charges ever emerged. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Inspector General should immediately conduct an investigation into these leaks and to examine the motivations behind a previous Administration’s effort to surveil a political opponent. Mr. Manafort requests that the Department of Justice release any intercepts involving him and any non-Americans so interested parties can come to the same conclusion as the DOJ – there is nothing there," Manafort's spokesman, Jason Maloni, said Tuesday.

Many questions remain unanswered. The Justice Department itself, in a recent court filing, said the DOJ and FBI did not have evidence of any Trump Tower surveillance during the election.

At the least, the latest report shows a close member of his inner circle was surveilled. The wiretapping was authorized by a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court after the FBI started to investigate Manafort in 2014, CNN reported. He's been under scrutiny over his financial dealings and lobbying efforts with pro-Russia and Ukrainian officials but has denied colluding with Russia to influence the election.

The order to monitor Manafort was discontinued in 2016, but investigators obtained another FISA warrant that stretched into early 2017, according to the report.

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If the CNN report is confirmed, Manafort would be the second person affiliated with the Trump campaign known to be monitored under a FISA warrant, behind former campaign adviser Carter Page.

Manafort, who registered as a foreign agent this summer, has said his work in Ukraine was not related to the 2016 campaign.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/09/...e-to-claim.html