Trey Gowdy: No special prosecutor needed for Trump allegation of Obama spying
“There is no special prosecutor statute! There is no independent counsel statute! There’s a regulation that allows for the appointment of special counsel if the Department of Justice has a conflict and if all 92 U.S. attorneys have a conflict. Until that evidentiary burden has been satisfied, I don’t know why Republicans or Democrats are talking about special counsel[s].” – Congressman Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina.
On Monday, President Donald Trump doubled-down on his accusation that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, wiretapped the Trump Tower in New York City during the run-up to the presidential election. Trump is calling on Congress to launch a formal investigation into the eavesdropping by a federal law enforcement or intelligence agency. However, Trump believes the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are the way to go.
Trump voiced his allegation on his Twitter account and compared the Obama spy situation to Nixon’s Watergate and the McCarthy Hearings.
Benghazi investigation leader, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-SC, said that if the suspected surveillance was indeed carried on then there are only a couple ways to justify the surveillance: Americans can either be wiretapped as part of a criminal inquiry, or as part of an intelligence gathering operation under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
“There is no other way for it lawfully to be done,” said Gowdy. “The good news about both of those … is there’s a paper trail. There’s an application. There are warrants — all of which can be reviewed.”
“The Obama team is no longer in charge,” Gowdy noted. “So any information the current Department of Justice has that suggests the previous Department of Justice acted inappropriately, they are welcome to release it.”
Gowdy on Monday also dismissed as premature any calls for any special prosecutor to investigate Russian links to Trump’s campaign
“There is no special prosecutor statute. There is no independent counsel statute. There’s a regulation that allows for the appointment of special counsel if the Department of Justice has a conflict and if all 92 U.S. attorneys have a conflict. Until that evidentiary burden has been satisfied, I don’t know why Republicans or Democrats are talking about special counsel,” he said.
“It’s too early. Special Counsel only applies to a criminal investigation,” he said, also adding that the FBI would be the agency to investigate a potential crime.
Unfortunately, Trump allowed far too many Obama minions to remain in the White House and in the various federal agencies.
“I want this investigated but not by FBI Director James Comey, who I wouldn’t hire as a traffic officer writing parking tickets in New York. He’s a failure as FBI chief and should be forced to resign or be fired,” said former New York City Detective Iris Aquino. “And Trump better take this opportunity to replace a lot of people in his agencies.”
Aquino believes that former intelligence chief James Clapper who also denied Trump’s allegations, has a history of lying and even perjured himself before a House panel.
Conservative radio show host Mark Levin said the evidence was “overwhelming” that Obama conducted surveillance during Trump’s campaign. Levin, a former chief of staff in the U.S. Justice Department, called the effort a “silent coup” by the Obama administration and demanded that it be investigated.
Levin made the case that former President Obama and his operatives have actively worked to spy on, and undermine, President Donald Trump and his administration.
Levin spoke to “Fox & Friends” on Sunday and used liberal news sources to essentially prove that the Obama administration was behind spying on President Trump and others in his campaign during the election season.
