As the pressure mounted on Donald Trump to explain the reported link between his administration and Russia, the president did his best to deflect and accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping his office inside Trump Tower. Since then, another curve ball has been thrown into the story in the form of House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, which continued during a weekend tweet-storm.
Trump returns to Twitter
The speculation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the Donald Trump campaign started early on, and has only increased since Inauguration Day.
Various members of Trump's inner circle have been tied back to the Kremlin, including former and current associates. As expected, the former host of "The Apprentice" has continued to deny any wrongdoing, and instead has blamed Democrats and Barack Obama for pushing an alleged "witch hunt" against him in an attempt to undermine his administration. One area of focus for Trump and many in the right-wing media is not on whether or not Russia hacked the election, but rather who leaked the information to the press. As seen on Twitter on April 1, Trump referenced a recent report from Fox News in an attempt to back up his agenda.
Wow, @FoxNews just reporting big news. Source: "Official behind unmasking is high up. Known Intel official is responsible. Some unmasked....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2017
As Donald Trump continues his active day on social media, the president returned to Twitter to push the baseless conspiracy theory that he was spied on during the election.
Trump was giving somewhat of a lifeline last month when Devin Nunes claimed that the president might have been put under "incidental surveillance," breaking protocol of the House Intelligence Committee in the process by reporting directly to the White House. On Saturday, Trump continued with the defense of his conspiracy.
..not associated with Russia. Trump team spied on before he was nominated." If this is true, does not get much bigger. Would be sad for U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2017
"Wow, Fox News just reporting big news," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter, before quoting the network in the process.
"Source: 'Official behind unmasking is high up. Known Intel official is responsible. Some unmasked not associated with Russia. Trump team spied on before he was nominated,'" the tweet read. "If this is true, does not get much bigger," he wrote, before concluding, "would be sad for U.S."
BREAKING: Intelligence official who 'unmasked' Trump associates is 'very high up,' source says https://t.co/R5GNPu6V6X via @adamhousley
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) March 31, 2017
Moving forward
While most credible evidence has debunked the allegations that Donald Trump was wiretapped during the election, that hasn't stopped the president and administration-friendly news outlets from doing their best to spin the facts. As of press time, it's unknown whether or not Trump's latest tweet is valid, and it's unlikely to be cleared up anytime soon.