Donald Trump Reportedly Eavesdropped on Private Phone Conversations at Mar-a-Lago

[Denzil_DC]

Re-upping this from June last year because this is how Trump rolls (allegedly), and with his current allegations, I have the feeling he imagines Obama was holed up in the Oval Office with his ear glued to a phone as Trump & Co. did whateverthehell it is they did and do:

Despite Donald Trump’s penchant for blacklisting media outlets, the man has an insatiable desire to know what people are saying about him. Every day, his staffers reportedly print out between 30 and 50 Google news results for “Donald J. Trump,” which they dutifully serve their billionaire boss. Trump’s intense urge to know exactly why his ears are ringing may not be limited to the news, either. According to one new report, the presumptive G.O.P. nominee allegedly went so far as to tap the phone lines at his Mar-A-Lago resort, using a special console installed in his bedroom.

Trump allegedly eavesdropped on conversations between staff members and possibly guests at the Palm Beach resort, BuzzFeed News reported Thursday. Citing four anonymous sources, the outlet reveals that club staff members were aware of—and warned that—the real-estate mogul would listen in on calls made using Mar-A-Lago landlines during the mid-2000s. One individual said, “it was acknowledged that when he was at the property there was a likelihood of him listening in on your call,” and another alleged that Trump “could pick up the phone in the bedroom and listen to any conversation that was going on.” The Trump camp has denied the eavesdropping accusations. “This is totally and completely untrue,” spokesperson Hope Hicks told Buzzfeed, whileMar-A-Lago managing director Bernd Lembcke said he had “no knowledge of what you wrote,” in reference to an e-mail inquiry from the outlet.

Two other sources who spoke to BuzzFeed on the record, Trump’s former butler Anthony Senecal and one-time director of security at Mar-A-Lago John Velez, also refuted allegations that the New York billionaire listened in on guests’ and employees’ phone calls. The two did, however, confirm the existence of the console in the New York billionaires’ private apartment on the grounds. This “switchboard” supposedly allowed The Donald to barge into phone calls. Velez said Trump simply used it to “dial out” because “trying to remember extensions to every suite is impossible.” Similarly, Senecal told BuzzFeed, “He’s got lines to all the rooms,” because “a lot of his friends stayed at Mar-A-Lago and he didn’t want to got through the front desk.”

This is not the first time Trump employees have suspected that he might be listening in on their private conversations. Last month, The New York Times reported that campaign staffers thought their offices might be bugged. Even the billionaire himself suffers from eavesdropping paranoia, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt that he assumes people are listening to his phone calls, The Hill reports. We can’t wait to see what he’ll do with the N.S.A.

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/donald-trump-eavesdropping-mar-a-lago