“There are many ways to surveil each other now, unfortunately. There was an article this week that talked about how you can surveil through their phones, certainly through their television sets, any number of different ways, and microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera,” Conway said. “We know that this is just a fact of modern life.”
Both Barack Obama and James Clapper, Obama’s director of national intelligence, have denied that such tapping took place, while FBI director James Comey has reportedly encouraged the Justice Department to deny the claim, according to CBS News. In fact, the claims of wiretapping sprung out of a series of poorly-spelled Trump tweets inspired by little more than a Breitbart article and the president’s unfortunate wealth-and-boredom-induced mania.
The detail about microwave- and smart TV-hacking comes from files released by WikiLeaks last week, which referred to several alleged CIA cyber weapons. It is unrelated to the invented issue of the Trump Tower being tapped.
In an interview on Monday morning on Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos asked Conway about whether or not she had evidence of wiretapping in Trump Tower, a claim she’s now mentioned at every opportunity. She deflected: in the interview, she was asked about Trump’s claims, and responded about “surveilling” generally (sure).
“I have no evidence, but that’s why there’s an investigation in Congress,” Conway said, characteristically devoid of shame. “That’s particularly what investigations are for.”
In fact, the opposite is true: investigations are usually based on at least a small amount of evidence. If not, I’d be lobbying Congress for an investigation into whether my cat can talk and is just choosing not to. And, whether or not my bones are hollow like a bird’s, making me capable of flight. Also, whether or not everyone on the way to the subway is looking at me weirdly.
Regardless, members of the House Intelligence Committee have asked the Justice Department to turn over any evidence of wiretapping to the committee by Monday, dutifully playing their part in our national circus of misdirection and fabricated distractions, allowing for Conway, Bannon, and Trump to turn us into Little Petrograd while we fight about procedure.
