Through a series of tweets in early March, Donald Trump directly accused former President Obama for wiretapping the phones at Trump Tower before Election Day 2016. In the content of his tweets, Trump insisted that his claimed situation was similar to that of “Nixon/Watergate,” calling the former President a “bad (or sick) guy.” Continuing to accuse Obama, Trump proclaimed that Obama was meddling with a “very sacred election process,” relating his act to McCarthyism.

“Wiretapping can deeply affect how others view a president and can often lead to undesirable consequences for him or her,” said junior Julianna Mathew.

Uncertainties and skepticisms quickly arose from these “tweets,” as Trump provided no evidence that such an action was executed by the Obama administration.  Due to the lack of evidence surrounding the issue, Obama quickly dismissed the accusation imposed by Trump. According to CNN, a spokesperson for Obama by the name of Kevin Lewis, declared that “any suggestion” Obama or any White House official ordered for surveillance against Trump is false as no White House official interfered with the independent investigations led by the Department of Justice.

Officials of the government are continuously rendering Trump’s claims false, according to CNN. A former US official with knowledge of the Justice Department’s investigations declared that Obama could not have ordered such a request to wiretap Trump. If Obama were to ask for a warrant, it would have to be run through a team of investigators; however, the investigators claim that they never sought a warrant to monitor Trump’s phones.

In order for Obama to legally wiretap Trump, it must be accepted by a federal judge as well; however, the federal judge must be given a significant reason for doing so. Wiretaps on Trump’s phones would have been accepted by the federal judge if he or she found that Trump committed a federal crime or was a foreign spy. Trump was neither involved in such a crime nor was a foreign spy in this case, contributing to the flawed statement made by Trump.

Not only are Trump’s statements denied and groundless as it is, neither Trump nor his aides are able to cite or back up Trump’s accusation about Obama. According to the Chicago Tribune, some believe a report on a conservative website, the Breitbart, and a commentary from talk radio host Mark Levin, in which he spoke out about the Obama administration using “police state” tactics to monitor the Trump team, could have stirred the distortion of the wiretap to Trump.

“The possibility that his claims are true seems unlikely if even the accuser is unable to find evidence,” said junior Ammie Faunce.

As more and more people doubt “Trump’s claims,” some began to interpret “Trump’s tweets” differently, questioning if they were even referring to an actual physical wiretap executed by Obama. On CNBC, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer argued that it was possible that Trump could have been addressing a “broad surveillance,” rather than an actual physical wiretap. He contended that the reporters were focusing too much on the baseless accusation instead of the statements that denied Trump campaign officials for having a relationship with the Russian officials.

“Trump’s accusations remain baseless either way. It’s unlikely that such wiretapping or surveillance could have occurred,” said junior Amber Kim.

Although Trump’s accusation remains evidently groundless and confusing, Trump continues to persist that the Obama administration was still involved in wiretapping Trump Tower.