Trump Tower could have been wiretapped, experts say, but not the way Trump suggests

(Image credit: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images)

last updated 6 March 2017

President Trump's allegation that Trump Tower was wiretapped by the federal government during the 2016 election is possible, digital surveillance experts tell Politico, but his claim that former President Obama personally ordered the surveillance doesn't match legal realities. The president cannot simply ask for a wiretap warrant the way Trump's tweets suggest; that is the role of law enforcement agents by way of a judge's order.

Still, there are other ways Trump Tower conversations could have been monitored by the feds:

First, they may have come upon Trump Tower phone calls if a targeted foreign agent was on the other end of the line — this method comes from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Or Trump Tower digital chatter might show up while digging through the vast quantities of data hoovered up via more sweeping foreign surveillance programs.Second, the FBI could have also asked for a so-called "pen register" or "tap and trace device," which only record the parties involved in a phone call. These requests have a lower bar for approval. [Politico]

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.