Judge Napolitano not on the air after his remarks about wiretaps and the British intelligence agencies.
Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano is being kept off the air indefinitely amid the controversy over his unverified claims that British intelligence wiretapped Trump Tower at the behest of former President Barack Obama. Judge Napolitano has been used by both President Donald Trump and the White House as a source.
Fox News has not officially suspended him not has the network announced that he has been taken off the air. However, Napolitano was conspicuously missing from the Fox News coverage of the confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch — an event in which he typically would have played a significant role. He has not been on the air since Thursday.
The trouble for Napolitano came after the he made several on-air statements advancing the White House narrative that supporters of Obama, through foreign intelligence, listened in on Trump conversations at Trump Tower.
Last week, Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court judge, reported on the morning show “Fox and Friends” that the Obama administration had asked British intelligence to wiretap Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The White House continued to use Napolitano’s comments to defend their wiretap allegations. The problems began to start when President Trump from citing Napolitano as a source again when he was asked about the wiretapping claims at a Friday news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“You shouldn’t be talking to me; you should be talking to Fox News,” said Trump, who described Napolitano as “a very talented lawyer.”
That brought rebukes from the highest levels of both British intelligence agencies as well as requests for apologies from 10 Downing Street.
Anchor Shepard Smith saying on Friday: “Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary. Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-president of the United States was surveilled at any time, anyway. Full stop.”
During a congressional hearing on Monday, Comey said there was no evidence that President Obama had wiretapped then candidate Trump as well as Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency.
During that same hearing yesterday Director Comey stated that there was no evidence that the British had been asked to intercept conversations, as Mr. Napolitano had asserted.
There is no time table given for the return to air for Napolitano but best guess is that he will return Fox News in a couple of weeks. But for the judge has been benched.
Video from Fox New
