Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a campaign stop at the Grand Park Events Center in Westfield, Indiana, July 12, 2016. Photo by John Sommers II via Reuters
A reporter for online media company BuzzFeed sued the federal government Thursday in Los Angeles, demanding internal communications from the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies regarding President Donald Trump’s tweets claiming that he was wiretapped by ex-President Barack Obama.
The suit, filed by reporter Jason Leopold under the Freedom of Information Act, seeks to force about half a dozen government agencies to “produce records mentioning or referring to statements by President Donald Trump that his offices were wiretapped by the Obama administration and other claims the president has made on Twitter,” according to the federal court filing.
A call to the DOJ for comment was not immediately answered.
Leopold, who lives in Beverly Hills and works in Los Angeles, states that he made his first request to the government under FOIA two days after Trump tweeted his claim on March 4 that he had been under surveillance by his predecessor.
The FBI responded on March 30, claiming Leopold’s request was “overly broad” and too “vague,” according to the lawsuit.
Trump tweeted that Obama had wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 election.
“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my `wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump tweeted.
The suit requests any and all” emails, memos, text and instant messages, and other communications from the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Office of Director of National Intelligence and other agencies that refer to Trump’s claims.
—City News Service
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