A senior official with Ukraine’s intelligence agency has been fired after revelations that investigative journalists had been wiretapped, a source at the agency told media on Monday.

Ukraine Security Service under fire after surveilling journalists and wiretapping media

A senior official with Ukraine’s intelligence agency has been fired after revelations that investigative journalists had been wiretapped, a source at the agency told AFP on Monday.

Ukraine official fired over media wiretapping

<p>FBI Director James Comey has asked the Justice Department to publicly refute President Donald Trump&#39;s explosive accusation that Barack Obama tapped his phones, US media reported on Sunday.</p>

<p>The New York Times, citing senior US officials, first reported that Comey believes Trump&#39;s unsubstantiated claim about his predecessor to be false. The department has not made any statement.</p>

<p>Comey made the request on Saturday because &quot;there is no evidence to support it, and it insinuates that the FBI broke the law,&quot; the paper reported the officials as saying.</p>

<p>Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department immediately responded to an AFP request for comment.</p>

<p>Questioning the president&#39;s truthfulness, Comey&#39;s extraordinary measure provides an indication of the implications of the uncharted territory Trump has entered with his accusation.</p>

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<h5>Trump made his claim in a tweet on Saturday. &#39;How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process,&#39; he wrote. &#39;This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!&#39;</h5>
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<p>However, although the Justice Department -- which is headed by Trump&#39;s staunch supporter Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- oversees the FBI, it is not clear why Comey didn&#39;t issue a statement himself.</p>

<p>Trump made his claim in a tweet on Saturday.</p>

<p>&quot;How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process,&quot; he wrote. &quot;This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!&quot; He provided no evidence to back up the claim.</p>

<p>Obama denied the allegation via a spokesman as &quot;simply false&quot;.</p>

<p>However, the Republican chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Devin Nunes, said his panel would look into Trump&#39;s claim after the White House on Sunday urged Congress to investigate his allegation.</p>

<p>The accusation has prompted a firestorm of criticism, with many saying Trump&#39;s incendiary claim was aimed at diverting attention from a series of revelations about his aides&#39; meetings with Russian officials.</p>

<p>(AFP)</p>


Trump had claimed, without offering evidence, that Barack Obama had tapped his phones

FBI Director James Comey has asked the Justice Department to publicly refute President Donald Trump's explosive accusation that Barack Obama tapped his phones, US media reported on Sunday. The New York Times, citing senior US officials, first reported that Comey believes Trump's unsubstantiated claim about his predecessor to be false. The department has not made any statement. Comey made the request on Saturday because "there is no evidence to support it, and it insinuates that the FBI broke the law," the paper reported the officials as saying. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department immediately responded to an AFP request for comment. Questioning the president's truthfulness, Comey's extraordinary measure provides an indication of the implications of the uncharted territory Trump has entered with his accusation. Trump made his claim in a tweet on Saturday. 'How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process,' he wrote. 'This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!' × However, although the Justice Department -- which is headed by Trump's staunch supporter Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- oversees the FBI, it is not clear why Comey didn't issue a statement himself. Trump made his claim in a tweet on Saturday. "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process," he wrote. "This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" He provided no evidence to back up the claim. Obama denied the allegation via a spokesman as "simply false". However, the Republican chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Devin Nunes, said his panel would look into Trump's claim after the White House on Sunday urged Congress to investigate his allegation. The accusation has prompted a firestorm of criticism, with many saying Trump's incendiary claim was aimed at diverting attention from a series of revelations about his aides' meetings with Russian officials. (AFP)

FBI director asks Justice Department to publicly refute Trump's Obama claim: Reports

<p>US&nbsp;President Donald Trump on Saturday accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping him in October during the late stages of the presidential election campaign, but offered no evidence to support the allegation.</p>

<p>Representatives of Obama have denied the accusations.</p>

<p>Obama&#39;s spokesman Kevin Lewis said: &quot;A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any&nbsp;independent investigation led by the Department of Justice.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>He added, &quot;As part of that practice,&nbsp;neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US&nbsp;citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!,&quot; Trump said in a series of Tweets on his Twitter account early on Saturday. &quot;I&#39;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!&quot;</p>

<p>Presidents don&#39;t&nbsp;order&nbsp;wiretaps. As Ben Rhodes, President Obama&#39;s former speechwriter and policy adviser, Tweeted: &quot;No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you.&quot;</p>

<p>On Saturday, Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News that Trump &quot;is not credible when it comes to talking about Russia&quot;. Swalwell downplayed Trump&#39;s allegation. &quot;I think this is just the president up early doing his routine tweeting,&quot; he said. &quot;Presidents don&#39;t wiretap anyone. These are pursued by the Department of Justice in accordance with the FBI and signed off by a judge.&quot;</p>

<p>And actually, it&#39;s perfectly legal for Trump to be wiretapped,&nbsp;and Trump claiming to have just learned about it&nbsp;now is&nbsp;dubious, considering&nbsp;it&#39;s been&nbsp;known publicly for months that&nbsp;the FBI is investigating him and his connections to Russia. Louise Mensch at <a href="https://heatst.com/world/exclusive-fbi-granted-fisa-warrant-covering-trump-camps-ties-to-russia/" target="_blank">Heat Street</a> broke the news on November 7, 2016: &quot;Two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of &#39;US persons&#39;&nbsp;in Donald Trump&#39;s campaign with ties to Russia.&quot;</p>

<p>Under US&nbsp;law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance is an &quot;agent of a foreign power&quot; in order to approve a warrant authorising electronic surveillance of Trump Tower.</p>

<p>In one of the Tweets, Trump said the alleged wiretapping took place in his Trump Tower office and apartment building in New York, but there was &quot;nothing found&quot;.</p>

<p>Trump&#39;s administration has come under pressure from Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional investigations into contacts between some members of his campaign team and Russian officials during his campaign.</p>

<p>Obama imposed sanctions on Russia and ordered Russian diplomats to leave the United States in December over the country&#39;s involvement in hacking political parties in the November&nbsp;8 US&nbsp;presidential election.</p>

<p>Several conservative news outlets and commentators have made similar allegations about Trump being wiretapped during the campaign in recent days, without offering any evidence.</p>

<p>Trump&#39;s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned in February after revelations that he had discussed US&nbsp;sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office.</p>

<p>Flynn had promised Vice President Mike Pence he had not discussed US&nbsp;sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US&nbsp;officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and the Russian ambassador.</p>

<p>Trump has often used his Twitter account to attack rivals and for years led a campaign alleging that Obama was not born in the United States. He later retracted the allegation.</p>

<p>Obama&#39;s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The White House also did not respond to a request to elaborate on Trump&#39;s accusations.</p>

<p>Trump is &quot;having meetings, making phone calls and hitting balls&quot; at his golf course in West Palm Beach, according to a Trump spokeswoman.</p>

<p>(WION with inputs from Reuters)</p>


Obama's spokesperson has denied the accusation, saying the former president never ordered surveillance on any US citizen

US President Donald Trump on Saturday accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping him in October during the late stages of the presidential election campaign, but offered no evidence to support the allegation. Representatives of Obama have denied the accusations. Obama's spokesman Kevin Lewis said: "A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice." He added, "As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false." "How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!," Trump said in a series of Tweets on his Twitter account early on Saturday. "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!" Presidents don't order wiretaps. As Ben Rhodes, President Obama's former speechwriter and policy adviser, Tweeted: "No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you." On Saturday, Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News that Trump "is not credible when it comes to talking about Russia". Swalwell downplayed Trump's allegation. "I think this is just the president up early doing his routine tweeting," he said. "Presidents don't wiretap anyone. These are pursued by the Department of Justice in accordance with the FBI and signed off by a judge." And actually, it's perfectly legal for Trump to be wiretapped, and Trump claiming to have just learned about it now is dubious, considering it's been known publicly for months that the FBI is investigating him and his connections to Russia. Louise Mensch at Heat Street broke the news on November 7, 2016: "Two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community have confirmed to Heat Street that the FBI sought, and was granted, a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court warrant in October, giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of 'US persons' in Donald Trump's campaign with ties to Russia." Under US law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance is an "agent of a foreign power" in order to approve a warrant authorising electronic surveillance of Trump Tower. In one of the Tweets, Trump said the alleged wiretapping took place in his Trump Tower office and apartment building in New York, but there was "nothing found". Trump's administration has come under pressure from Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional investigations into contacts between some members of his campaign team and Russian officials during his campaign. Obama imposed sanctions on Russia and ordered Russian diplomats to leave the United States in December over the country's involvement in hacking political parties in the November 8 US presidential election. Several conservative news outlets and commentators have made similar allegations about Trump being wiretapped during the campaign in recent days, without offering any evidence. Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned in February after revelations that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office. Flynn had promised Vice President Mike Pence he had not discussed US sanctions with the Russians, but transcripts of intercepted communications, described by US officials, showed that the subject had come up in conversations between him and the Russian ambassador. Trump has often used his Twitter account to attack rivals and for years led a campaign alleging that Obama was not born in the United States. He later retracted the allegation. Obama's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The White House also did not respond to a request to elaborate on Trump's accusations. Trump is "having meetings, making phone calls and hitting balls" at his golf course in West Palm Beach, according to a Trump spokeswoman. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Donald Trump, without evidence, says Obama wiretapped him during campaign

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