In an exclusive Tuesday night, CNN reported that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been wiretapped both before and after the election by U.S. investigators.
Of course, everyone remembers the fuss over President Trump’s tweets last March alleging wiretapping of his campaign:
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
At the time, CNN was quick to debunk the allegations — as in, really quick.
Blunt @CNN headline pic.twitter.com/5FHUvpRRHs
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 4, 2017
Monday night, though, CNN reported that Manafort had been wiretapped “into early this year”:
Some of the intelligence collected includes communications that sparked concerns among investigators that Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. Two of these sources, however, cautioned that the evidence is not conclusive.
Not conclusive — you mean, like CNN’s original claim that Trump’s allegations of wiretapping were false? That sort of inconclusive?
https://twitter.com/ConnorBarrick/status/909920911918288897
You mean they were wiretapping? How surprising.. Not. https://t.co/9JudxTkbMe
— cranktheory (@cranktheory) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/polNewsInfinity/status/909921156433678336
He has a residence at Trump Tower, and this almost has to be what Trump tweeted about Obama tapping his phones. https://t.co/lNK82uwoCN
— David Zavac (@DavidZavac) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/909919435967696897
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/909914755749605376
So…we may need to revisit a few narratives about Trump's claim of being wiretapped during the election. https://t.co/RSpLg2O2Gy
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) September 18, 2017
Sooo Susan Rice did unmask Trump officials and Obama’s FBI did tap Trump ?
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 18, 2017
Woooooow. FISA warrant before and after the election. Based in (inconclusive) concerns Manafort had invited Russian help https://t.co/f4uysxwOHD
— Ben Brody (@BenBrodyDC) September 18, 2017
US wiretap of @PaulManafort continued into early 2017 including a period when he was known to talk to @POTUS, reports @CNN. https://t.co/T6BQwYZFA8
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) September 18, 2017
1. Trump WAS apparently tappppppppped at Trump Tower (via Manafort).
2. Trump's campaign manager may go to prison. https://t.co/uceLOmhJIp— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/909922704266076161
What it yielded is another question entirely; it’s probably best if CNN takes baby steps with this one, considering past performance.
.@CNN originally called the wiretapping story "an incendiary idea … the facts don't back up the conclusion" https://t.co/88FUBapr40 https://t.co/GIs2S5mEMd
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) September 18, 2017
Oh, and here’s Media Matters from just a couple of weeks ago:
Fox spent weeks defending Trump's Obama wiretapping claim. They spent 30 seconds covering the DOJ revealing he lied: https://t.co/n7I0R3tX9M pic.twitter.com/2YAcL63yq6
— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 8, 2017
(And yes, there will be plenty of parsing of Trump’s original tweets, accusing Obama by name of doing the wiretapping at Trump Tower.)
So when Trump says he was bugged… he was right.
(Bugging a top minion is close enough) https://t.co/DRFJreMrdb— Arthur Kimes (@ComradeArthur) September 18, 2017
* * *
Related:
That was fast: CNN wastes no time declaring Trump's wiretapping claim false https://t.co/skSooy2UCM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 4, 2017
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