Obama spokesman denies ex-president tapped Trump’s phone

Former US president Barack Obama never ordered surveillance on any US citizen, a spokesman said Saturday, after current President Donald Trump accused his predecessor of tapping his phones during last year’s campaign.

“President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen,” Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.

Trump on Saturday accused Obama of “tapping” his phone, without providing evidence of the explosive charge, in his most virulent attack yet on his predecessor.

“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!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“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!” he wrote in another tweet, referring to the political scandal that toppled president Richard Nixon in 1974.

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

Top Obama adviser Ben Rhodes issued a searing response on Twitter.

“No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you,” Rhodes wrote.

No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. https://t.co/lEVscjkzSw

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 4, 2017

Trump leveled the charges in a flurry of tweets shortly after dawn, as his administration remains mired in controversy over communications between Russian officials and some of his senior aides, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump and Obama frequently traded barbs on the campaign trail, and the Republican real estate magnate was a driving force behind the so-called “birther” movement that questioned whether Obama was born on US soil and eligible to be president.

The two men initially adopted a cordial tone as Trump took office, though the president has stepped up accusations against Obama in recent weeks, blaming his predecessor for being behind damaging leaks to journalists.

The businessman-turned-politician, who has accused his political foes of conducting “a total witch hunt,” on Saturday directed his Twitter tirade at his Democratic predecessor.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found,” Trump wrote a day after departing Washington for a weekend getaway at his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort for the fourth time in five weeks.

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

The president compared the alleged action to Senator Joe McCarthy’s campaign in the 1950s to root out alleged Communists and sympathizers, which was marked by improper investigative techniques.

“Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” Trump said, again providing no proof of Obama’s efforts to seek a court order to spy on the then-candidate.