Tornado Alley (PROG)

[JimLur]

Fox News suspends Andrew Napolitano over British spying claim: Report

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2617941/

Fox News has indefinitely removed contributor Andrew Napolitano from its programming, following an unsubstantiated claim he made on air last week and that was refuted by U.S. intelligence officials, according to a report.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that Napolitano has not made any appearances on Fox since last Thursday.

Citing an anonymous source, the paper said Napolitano "is not expected to be on Fox News Channel any time in the near future."

The Washington Examiner has asked a Fox spokesperson for confirmation of the report.

Napolitano last week tried to bolster President Trump's own previous and unfounded claim that the Obama administration had wiretapped him when he was transitioning into the White House.

"He used GCHQ. What is that? It's the initials for the British intelligence-finding agency," Napolitano said on Fox. "So, simply by having two people saying to them president needs transcripts of conversations involving candidate Trump's conversations, involving President-elect Trump, he's able to get it and there's no American fingerprints on this."

Fox daytime anchor Shepard Smith on Friday disputed Napolitano's claim.

"Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano's commentary," Smith said. "Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-president of the United States was surveilled at any time, any way. Full stop."

On Monday, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers denied that U.S. intelligence had asked the British to conduct surveillance, and said that it would be against the law.