Monday's CNN report that claimed former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was the subject of wiretapping last year and earlier this year was originally brought to light by conservative commentator Mark Levin in March.
CNN reported that Paul Manafort, who worked for President Donald Trump's campaign last year before he resigned in August, was wiretapped before and after the November election. That eavesdropping, which was allegedly performed via a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court warrant, may have picked up conversations of Manafort speaking with Russians about helping Trump's campaign.
Manafort has been under scrutiny since 2014, CNN reported, because of his foreign lobbying work. There have been allegations that he may have violated IRS laws as well, and he is one subject of special counsel Robert Mueller's Department of Justice Russia probe.
CNN cited multiple sources in its report Monday, but Levin spoke about allegations on his radio show that someone on the Trump campaign team was wiretapped in March. He followed that with an appearance on "Fox & Friends" three days later, in which he presented a case that the Obama administration was spying on at least one member of the Trump team through the use of secret warrants.
Levin said he pieced together several mainstream news reports in coming to his conclusion.
Mediaite published a story Tuesday that referenced Levin's remarks, noting that The Washington Post and other media outlets spun Levin's conclusions as nothing more than right-wing spin.
Levin blasted the wiretapping claims during an interview with Conservative Review in March after he mentioned the story on his radio program.
"The gravity of this is unparalleled. It appears that during the course of a presidential election, the Obama administration used both intelligence and law enforcement agencies to investigate the Republican nominee's campaign and certain surrogates," Levin said.
"We have a prior administration — Barack Obama and his surrogates — who are supporting Hillary Clinton and her party, the Democratic Party. Who were using the ... intelligence activities to surveil members of the Trump campaign, and to put that information out in the public."
The New York Times reported Monday that Manafort, whose Virginia home was the subject of a pre-dawn FBI raid in July, may be indicted by Mueller's team.
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