House Intel Chair Confirms Trump Team Was Surveilled

Members of the intelligence community "incidentally collected" communications from the Trump transition team during legal surveillance operations of foreign targets, a top Republican lawmaker said Wednesday afternoon.

House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said this produced "dozens" of reports which eventually unmasked several individuals' identities and were "widely disseminated."

He said none of the reports he had read mentioned Russia or Russians and he was unsure whether the surveillance occurred at Trump Tower -- as President Trump has suggested. Nunes also was unsure if then President-elect Trump was captured by the surveillance, which occurred in November, December and January.

"I recently confirmed on numerous occasions the intelligence community incidentally collected intelligence," Nunes said.

...The revelations could at least partially back up some allegations made by Trump earlier this month, when he tweeted that former President Barack Obama had "wiretapped" him, though top lawmakers have sharply disputed those claims. FBI Director James Comey also testified earlier this week he had no evidence to support the claims.

Nunes said he told House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier Wednesday about his findings. He later said he briefed Trump, calling some of the collection "inappropriate."

Trump commented briefly afterward, saying he felt "somewhat" vindicated by Nunes' comments.

Right or wrong, if a spy agency -- via any method -- intercepts, copies, or otherwise reviews your communications, they have spied on you. https://t.co/HeSzmJ66Xr

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 22, 2017

If your calls were monitored, you were spied on. Which end of the calls were "targeted" speaks to propriety, not whether it was spying.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 22, 2017