Obama administration wiretapped Paul Manafort, Trump campaign before and after election

U.S. investigators  in the Obama administration wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under “secret court orders before and after the election,” reports CNN, noting that the move was “…an extraordinary step involving a high-ranking campaign official now at the center of the Russia meddling probe.”

The “meddling probe” has proved to be rumors and speculation, so proof that “Manafort had encouraged the Russians to help with the campaign” will be called into question as the CNN report notes three separate anonymous sources.

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“Two of these sources, however, cautioned that the evidence is not conclusive,” the article states.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is leading the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the election, has been provided details of these communications.

A secret order authorized by the court that handles the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) began after Manafort became the subject of an FBI investigation that began in 2014. No information linked to the long running investigation was released to the public before or after the election, a fact which could have swayed voters.

One source cited as stating that “The surveillance was discontinued at some point last year for lack of evidence” and that the  “FBI then restarted the surveillance after obtaining a new FISA warrant that extended at least into early this year.”

CNN continued: “Sources say the second warrant was part of the FBI’s efforts to investigate ties between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian operatives. Such warrants require the approval of top Justice Department and FBI officials, and the FBI must provide the court with information showing suspicion that the subject of the warrant may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.”

CNN has learned that earlier this year, the FBI conducted a search of a storage facility belonging to Manafort. It’s not known what they found.

The conversations between Manafort and Trump continued after the President took office, long after the FBI investigation into Manafort was publicly known, the sources told CNN.

Manafort previously has denied that he ever “knowingly” communicated with Russian intelligence operatives during the election and also has denied participating in any Russian efforts to “undermine the interests of the United States.”