Democrat Kucinich: Extracurricular Wiretapping Does Occur

President Donald Trump’s claim that Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower has been treated with derision. This week, a former congressman suggested that Trump’s claim isn’t so far-fetched.

“I can vouch for the fact that extracurricular surveillance does occur, regardless of whether it is officially approved,” said former congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), explaining that the phone in his congressional office was tapped in 2011. 

He found out about the incident two years later when the Washington Times let him listen to a recording of a conversation he had with a high-ranking member of the Libyan government. “There are people who are saying, about President Trump’s claim, ‘oh it could never happen.’ Well, frankly it happened to me,” he said.

Kucinich had prior approval to speak with the Libyan official, but had no idea that his conversation was being monitored. “If they can do that to a member of congress, they can certainly do it to a presidential candidate. And they can do it to private citizens as well.”

Kucinich filed a series of FOIA requests, but he still doesn’t know who recorded the call or how it got to the Times. The newspaper’s story referenced “secret audio recordings recovered from Tripoli,” but Kucinich believes the recording was made by an American intelligence agency. 

Last month, he accused the intel community of scheming against Michael Flynn to reignite the Cold War. 

“I have never gone public with this story, but when I saw the derision with which President Trump’s claims were greeted – and notwithstanding our political differences – I felt I should share my experience,” said Kucinich.

Kucinich served as a House Rep. for the state of Ohio for 16 years (1997-2013). He currently works for Fox News as a contributor, commentator, and analyst. Kucinich’s story follows last Tuesday’s worrisome WikiLeaks dump that suggests the CIA left Americans vulnerable to spying.