Tucker Carlson debated a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee over claims that President Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump tower. Wiretapping
Carlson told House Intelligence Committee Member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) that the U.S. intelligence community “spied” on members of Trump’s campaign team, including former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who reportedly had been speaking with Russian entities.
By extension, Carlson said, Trump may have somewhat of a leg to stand on in his claim that Trump Tower was indeed a site of covert intelligence gathering.
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
Himes said there is still no evidence to back up Trump’s claims, pointing out that the White House had produced no evidence itself, after the president tweeted last weekend.
Carlson asked whether the intelligence community has any information from Trump Tower in its possession.
Himes said that if they did, it would have been collected because a federal judge deemed it necessary on account of possible criminal activity or contact with a foreign power.
Himes added that there is no solid proof that Manafort or anyone else in Trump Tower was being spied on at Obama’s behest, disagreeing with Carlson’s classification of law enforcement surveillance as “spying.”
“The president does not have the authority to order a wiretap on anybody,” Himes said, adding that such an order would be a “severe violation.”
.@jahimes: There are questions if there was collusion w/ Russia and Trump camp. No question there was Russian hacking -TCT #Tucker @FoxNews
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 7, 2017
Carlson told Himes he hopes the United States government does not secretly collect information on private citizens and use it for political means, citing the forced resignation of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) after his contact with a Russian envoy was leaked to the press. Wiretapping
“Nobody was trying to ‘get’ Michael Flynn,” Himes said, agreeing that the leak itself was illegal.
To say that intelligence collected from surveillance gets used for political purposes is “baloney,” Himes said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RawgWx1DqQ