Lewandowski floats claim Obama admin listened in on Sessions

President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Saturday night added to President Trump’s allegations earlier in the day of wiretapping on the part of the Obama administration.

Lewandowski, who now has a lobbying firm, claimed on Fox News without offering evidence that the Obama administration also listened in on conversations between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak last year.

“What we’ve seen from the previous administration was that they did spend time listening to conversations between then-Sen. Jeff Sessions [R-Ala.] and the ambassador to Russia while he was in his U.S. senate office,” Lewandowski claimed. “What other conversations did they listen in on from the American public?”

{mosads}Fox News host Jeanine Pirro appeared surprised by Lewandowski’s statement.

“Woah, woah, woah,” she interjected.

“You’re saying that they were listening to conversations between then-Sen. Sessions and the Russian ambassador Kislyak? Or are you talking about Mike Flynn and Kislyak?” she asked, referring to Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“I’m talking about Jeff Sessions,” Lewandowski responded.

“Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions met with the ambassador one time during the Republican National Convention, but more importantly, the second time that he met with him was in the United States Senate office,” he continued.

“They were monitoring when a United States senator was having a private conversation, is what I understand. And if that is the case that’s very concerning. And so is it possible that the previous administration was listening to the conversations that took place in Trump Tower?”

Lewandowski did not cite specific evidence or reports to back up the claim.

“I am unaware of any claim of them listening to a conversation as opposed to them being aware of a meeting between then-Sen. Sessions and Ambassador Kislyak,” Pirro said.

The accusations stem from a Wednesday report by The Washington Post that revealed Sessions had two undisclosed meetings with the Russian ambassador in July and September, meetings confirmed by Justice Department officials.

Past reports from The New York Times and CNN have referenced U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials examining intercepted communications involving Russian officials and other Trump associates.

Lewandowki’s comments on the program Saturday came as he weighed in on Trump’s claim that Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower before the election. Trump also tweeted the accusation without offering evidence.

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway had been scheduled for Saturday’s show, but Pirro said she had been rescheduled for Sunday’s show, noting other guests such as Lewandowski would appear Saturday instead.

The White House has yet to provide information to back up Trump’s tweets.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump wrote early Saturday.

“Is it legal for a sitting President to be “wire tapping” a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he added.

“I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!”

A spokesman for Obama rejected the accusation, saying that “neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.”

Sessions recused himself on Thursday from any federal investigation into Russia’s intervention in the election amid pressure from lawmakers following the disclosure of his talks with Kislyak.

Sessions denied that he intentionally misled lawmakers during his confirmation hearing when he did not mention his conversations with the Russian official. He argued he carried out the talks in his role as an Alabama senator and not in his capacity as a Trump adviser.