British spy agency calls Trump’s espionage claim ‘utterly ridiculous’
April 25, 2019 4 Comments
The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Britain’s primary signals-intelligence agency, has called claims by United States President Donald Trump that it spied on his election campaign “utterly ridiculous”. President Trump’s allegations are not new. They apparently rest on claims made in March 2017 by a Fox News commentator, that the GCHQ spied on Trump on orders of then-US President Barack Obama. The claim was repeated on March 17 at the White House by Sean Spicer, Trump’s then-press secretary, who said that Obama had used the GCHQ to spy on Trump so as to evade American privacy laws. At the time, Spicer’s claim prompted an angry response from the British government in London and from the British spy agency itself. In a rare public comment, GCHQ called the allegations “utterly ridiculous”.
This past Wednesday, the US president appeared to repeat his claim that GCHQ had spied on his election campaign, via a post on the popular social networking platform Twitter. Responding to a reiteration of the claim on the conservative cable television channel One America News Network, Trump tweeted “WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!”. The president’s tweet appeared just hours after the British government confirmed that Trump had been invited for a four-day state visit to the United Kingdom in June. The visit is believed to include a meeting with British Prime Minster Theresa May and dinner with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
Following Trump’s tweet, the US newsmagazine Newsweek contacted GCHQ with a request for a response to the US president’s allegation. A GCHQ spokesperson referred the newsmagazine to the agency’s 2017 statement, and repeated: “The allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct ‘wire tapping’ against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored”. It is extremely rare for GCHQ —one of Britain’s most secretive and publicity-shy agencies— to respond publicly to stories in the media. Late on Wednesday, British Foreign Affairs Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the invitation to President Trump to visit London would not be rescinded, and insisted that Britain’s “special relationship” with the US remained “intact”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 25 April 2019 | Permalink
intelNews.org 
https://eztees.co.uk/ekmps/shops/eztees/images/.gchq-the-only-government-department-that-actually-listens-joke-t-shirt-exact-colour-navy-blue-size-xxl-19028-p.jpg – One person familiar with the matter said Brennan did not reveal sources but made reference to the fact that America’s intelligence allies had provided information. Trump subsequently learned of GCHQ’s role, the person said.
The person described US intelligence as being “very late to the game”. The FBI’s director, James Comey, altered his position after the election and Trump’s victory, becoming “more affirmative” and with a “higher level of concern”…Bobble Head Her Royal Clinton – MI6/GCHQ Willing Accomplices, and QE2 need to kiss President Donald J. Trumps … Ring…
And we have invited this excuse for a human being for a State visit. I wouldn’t let the waste of space near the country.
Russia is a strategic threat to all Five Eye countries. So investigations into Russian intelligence’s attempts to manipulate elections in those countries is most likely a legitimate function.
If Trump does come to the UK in June, he will be relying not only on the US Secret Service for his security but also MI5, GCHQ et al. Maybe he should be reminded of that before making any more moronic tweets.