News broke overnight on two stunning fronts involving former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
First, CNN, of all places, reported exclusively that the FBI, under former President Obama, wiretapped Manafort “under secret court orders before and after the election.”
Worse, the New York Times reports that they have sources confirming that the embattled Trump associate was threatened with indictment.
The President long ago asserted that the Obama Administration had wiretapped communications within his campaign, something media outlets roundly denounced as a wild conspiracy theory.
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Now, CNN and the media are begrudgingly admitting he was right.
“The government snooping continued into early this year, including a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump,” CNN reported.
“Trump Vindicated” pic.twitter.com/l6zrKD10M6
— Raised Right (@RightMsmagnolia) September 19, 2017
It was just months ago that CNN host Don Lemon refused to ‘aid and abet’ President Trump’s so-called ‘diversion attempts’ on the wiretap claim.
Now however, Lemon is being forced to cover the latest facts.
CNN correspondent Pamela Brown explained that the Trump Tower aspect of the President’s allegations haven’t been proven, but the fact that his campaign was wiretapped seems to have been given credence.
“What is possible, Don, is that [Trump] was picked up on the Manafort surveillance and we should note that Manafort does have a residence in Trump Tower,” Brown admitted, “but it is not clear if the FBI did surveillance on him there.”
Meanwhile, the Times has sources saying that a Manafort indictment was threatened.
Referring to a raid of Manafort’s home, in which the FBI sought documents related to Russian “meddling,” the Times reported Manafort was told prosecutors planned to indict him.
Robert Mueller’s prosecutors told Paul Manafort they planned to indict him, said 2 people close to the investigation https://t.co/IpIvZuZPDB
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 19, 2017
The claim is a little murky. The Times report indicates anonymous sources made the claims, which is always sketchy. But the newspaper seems to make a clarification, saying the claims of indictment were used as a tactic to strong arm Manafort, and weren’t necessarily a prediction.
They picked Manafort’s lock in July, raided his home and threatened to indict him. Inside Mueller’s tough tactics: https://t.co/VUDgPZeNUB
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 19, 2017
The White House and a spokesman for Manafort have yet to comment on the latest developments.
What do you think of these revelations? Was Trump vindicated for his wiretap comments? Will Manafort be indicted? Share your thoughts below!
