SOURCE:
THE NEW YORK TIMESURL:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/public-editor/trump-obama-wiretap-liz-spayd-public-editor.html?_r=0by Liz Spayd, Public Editor
President Trump has a predisposition toward self-inflicted wounds. He proved so once again last Saturday when he claimed he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama, whom Trump called a sick guy for conducting an illegal Watergate-style operation.
There is no evidence that what Trump said is true, and a line of prominent officials, most notably the former director of national intelligence James Clapper, have stepped forward to say so. Both Democrats and Republicans have spoken up to express their displeasure.
This has been the main story line over the past few days: Feckless president makes baseless claim; establishment Washington revolts. Media piles on.
What’s missing is that Trump’s assertions, however overinflated, nonetheless echo certain aspects of The New York Times’s reporting from recent weeks. That, in turn, has allowed his administration to assert that the basis for his claims rests, in part, on reporting by The Times.
On the surface, there are similarities. Both The Times and Trump have referred to wiretaps. Both have referenced White House knowledge of the investigations. And both have described efforts by officials from the Obama administration to involve itself in the continuing investigations of Trump and Russia.
Yet there are also significant differences. For one, as The Times (and others) has made clear, these investigations have been conducted by the F.B.I., intelligence agencies and Congress, not by Obama himself. The Times has also said Obama administration officials sought to spread intelligence about a possible link between Trump and Russia to ensure a trail of evidence for investigators, but it said Obama himself was not involved. And no Times reporter has claimed that any warrants have been issued to spy on Trump or his associates.
Distinguishing between Trump’s assertions and The Times’s reporting is essential. Yet readers at this juncture may be understandably confused on what is true and not in one of the most important ongoing news stories in the country.
Several readers have written in this week saying they’re having a hard time squaring The Times’s own past reports of wiretapping with the paper’s assertions that there is no firm evidence that any warrants for wiretaps have been issued. Readers also expressed confusion with The Times’s assertion that it would be illegal for a White House to receive information about such investigations, when its own wiretapping story in January said the Trump White House was given some information from intercepted communications.
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