‘You’re in deep sh*t’
That is what Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) tweeted to former TV show host Donald J. Trump this morning in reply to his morning Twitter tantrum.
Mr. President: If there was a wiretap at Trump Tower, that means a fed judge found probable cause of crime which means you are in deep shit. https://t.co/i7dUMtHXmo
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 4, 2017
If wiretap was on Trump Tower, that means fed judge found probable cause phone lines used by agents of foreign power https://t.co/1f1366A3jI
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 4, 2017
Either @realDonaldTrump is paranoid like Nixon, or judge found probable cause of crime for #wiretap. Either way our President is in trouble.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 4, 2017
Over at Think Progress, Justin Salhani explains why it would be, to use the preferred Biden acronym, a BFD if Trump were in fact wiretapped:
One former policy advisor for President Obama quickly pointed out that the president doesn’t have authority to order a wiretap. While it is possible that Trump’s communications were intercepted by American intelligence agencies, that would also suggest that a FISA court granted a surveillance warrant after finding probable cause that members of the Trump campaign team communicated inappropriately with Russia. And that could bring an avalanche of pressure onto the sitting president.
If Trump is correct about wiretaps, signals big trouble for him–a FISA warrant, federal judge finding probable cause for surveillance.
— Ruth Marcus (@RuthMarcus) March 4, 2017
If the FBI felt Trump’s campaign warranted wiretaps and a federal judge signed off on surveillance, then it could mean there was noteworthy communication between Trump’s team and influential Russian officials.
In January, the Guardian reported that the FBI had submitted a formal application to the FISA court for the surveillance of four Trump campaign officials, but that the application was rejected because it was too broad. A second, more narrow application was submitted and, according to at least one report, was granted.
If that’s the case, then it provides some of the most compelling evidence yet that the intelligence community believes there was direct communication between the Trump campaign and allies in Russia. Democratic lawmakers and conservatives are calling for the release of any evidence that might have provided the basis for a FISA warrant.
