Here's How It Differs From Watergate

Yes, Donald Trump's phones and computers were investigated by remote. He was, in fact, "wiretapped". A server at Trump Tower had a lot of communication with Alfa Bank, in Russia, and with Vladimir Putin during the summer and fall of 2016. Since nothing we do online is anonymous, the FBI noticed, and got a warrant to investigate. It was that simple. If Donald Trump thinks that any president would say no to such an investigation, he is delusional.

This differs from Watergate primarily because it was an actual investigation, complete with a warrant issued by the court for a wiretap. Watergate was spying and invasion of privacy. Nixon and et els were attempting to manipulate the success of a campaign and the outcome of a future election by criminal means. That's not what happened at Trump Tower. Due process was followed in the wiretapping of Trump Tower. No court gave Nixon permission to eavesdrop on the Democrats, but the court gave the FBI permission to investigate Donald Trump.

Another difference is that the investigation of the server at Trump Tower involves a foreign power. Had a Russian bank, with which Trump claimed he has no commerce, not been flagged, again and again, on his server, nothing would have seemed suspect. As it happens, Alfa Bank is also connected to Vladimir Putin. It would be negligent for the FBI to ignore such communiques. Nothing about this investigation compares to Watergate.

Trump Cries About Wiretaps

In case there is someone out there in Internetland who has not heard, Donald Trump has dominated Twitter, yet again, with yet another petty complaint. This time, it is an accusation against Barack Obama; specifically, that he had the phones at Trump Tower wiretapped during the election. Here's what he said, among other things:

While it is tempting to simply write this off as another stupid sounding complaint by an unqualified and ill-elected president, it is important to note the reaction of Kevin Lewis, Obama's spokesman, prior to passing judgement.  "A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false, " Lewis stated.

This is interesting. A president cannot order the wiretapping of any American citizen's phone, or any unconstitutional invasion of privacy. If Donald Trump does not know this, and must reach out to his Twitter audience for an answer, he is too stupid for the oval office. Another very telling aspect of Lewis's remark is what he said about DOJ investigations. As it happens, there actually WAS a warrant, which was not obtained by the White House, but by the FBI, to investigate communications at Trump Tower. It centered on a server which was found to be communicating with Russia's Alfa Bank, which has strong ties to Vladimir Putin. It seems that Mr. Trump just found out about the FBI investigation yesterday.

As long as an investigation is ongoing, the FBI is usually not inclined to comment or speak publicly about it. Had Donald Trump just resisted the urge to tweet, many, many Americans would not be aware, today, that the FBI has been investigating his computer and email activities, in connection to his relationship with entities in Russia. It seems plausible that we will hear more about this in the future.