Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Sunday that to his knowledge there was no FISA court order to implement surveillance on Trump Tower, counter to President Donald Trump’s claims on Saturday.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Clapper said that he did not know of any FISA court order to authorize surveillance on Trump Tower.
“Obviously I can’t speak officially anymore, but I will say that for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI there was no wiretap activity mounted against the President-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign,” he said. “I can’t speak for other Title III authorized entities in the government, or a state or local entity.”
“If the FBI, for instance, had a FISA court order of some sort for surveillance, would that be information you would know?” Chuck Todd asked.
“Yes,” Clapper said.
“You would be told this, if there was a FISA court order on something like this,” Todd pressed.
“I would know that. Yes,” Clapper replied. “Something like this, absolutely.”
“And at this point you can’t confirm or deny whether that exists?” Todd asked.
“I can deny it,” Clapper said.
“There is no FISA court order?” Todd pressed.
“Not to my knowledge,” Clapper said.
“Of anything at Trump Tower?” Todd asked.
“No,” Clapper said.
James Clapper: “There was no such wire tap activity amounted against” Donald Trump. #MTP pic.twitter.com/eNGFKe0vxY
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 5, 2017
On Saturday, Trump alleged that President Barack Obama was “wire tapping” his phones at Trump Tower ahead of the November election. He offered no evidence to support those claims.
A spokesperson for Obama rejected that claim later the same day.
“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,” Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement. “Neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen.”
This post has been updated.
