Through spokesman, Manafort demands DOJ investigate wiretapping report

Paul Manafort.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A spokesman for President Trump's onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Tuesday that if reports are correct that Manafort was wiretapped by federal investigators as part of an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the Justice Department's inspector general should launch an "immediate investigation" into the leak.

"It is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant, regardless of the fact that no charges ever emerged," spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement. Manafort is requesting that the Justice Department "release any intercepts involving him and any non-Americans so interested parties can come to the same conclusion as the DOJ — there is nothing there." CNN reported Monday that Manafort was wiretapped before Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to take over the FBI's Russia investigation, and The New York Times reported that Manafort was told by prosecutors they plan to indict him.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.