CNN reports that the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes (R- California) has not seen any evidence that there was a “wire tap” at Trump Tower:

“We don’t have any evidence that that took place and in fact I don’t believe — just in the last week of time, the people we’ve talked to — I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower”

In the early hours of Saturday March 4th, the so-called President launched a bizarre fusillade of tweets, complete with spelling mistakes, claiming that former President Barack Obama had surveilled him during the Presidential campaign:

Despite implying in the tweet that he had evidence (“Just found out…”) the alleged sexual predator did not offer the evidence to the press, Congress or law-enforcement agencies.

Last week Nunes gave Trump a put-up or shut-up deadline of Monday, March 13 to produce evidence to his committee to substantiate his now obviously baseless claim.

The most obvious explanation is that Trump was attempting to deflect attention from the widening Russian influence scandal that has already cost him one senior advisor.

Using twitter to make bizarre and incoherent statements as a means of deflecting attention from the failures of his administration seems to be a consistent strategy of the young administration. Even today Trump childishly picked a fight with rapper Snoop Dogg in an obvious ploy to diminish attention on yesterday’s devastating CBO report on his Healthcare debacle. This juvenile approach has had some success, but there is increasing awareness in the media to Trump’s use of the strategy and it remains to be seen if voters will punish Trump for demeaning the office they have entrusted to him with such transparent and unserious ploys.

Nunes and other Congressional leaders have not indicated whether Trump will face sanctions or other punishment for his unfounded accusations against the former President. Such sanctions if they were applied could be very serious.

This week Presidential Counselor Kellyanne Conway made headlines defending the President’s rant by bizarrely explaining that Obama could have used a microwave oven to spy on the current President. Her statement was met with much derision. Conway has been under fire for her lack of honesty and ethical breaches.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer attempted a partial walk back of the President’s comments by explaining that he had placed “wiretap” in quotation marks indicating that he mean surveillance in general, not specifically a wire tap saying that Trump

“[…] does not really think that President Obama went up and tapped [Trump’s] phone personally, but there is no question the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election”

The pattern that is emerging is of an Administration that is willing to use Trump’s twitter account to make outrageous claims to distract attention from important matters of state and then double down on the crazy through surrogates and their propagandist media.

It remains to be seen whether the American voter will tire of this strategy of outrage and lies and whether they will exact a price from the Trump administration for the President’s lack of credibility.

An even more profound concern would be the emotional or mental stability of a man who would act so recklessly and untruthfully.

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