Attorney Sam Nunberg told Newsmax TV he's not surprised at Monday's news that former national security adviser Susan Rice allegedly helped collect intelligence on members of President Donald Trump's campaign and transition teams.
During an appearance on "Newsmax Prime," Nunberg told host Miranda Khan he believes misconduct surrounding intelligence collection went as high as former President Barack Obama himself.
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"This is no surprise," said Nunberg, a former Trump adviser. "I think that Susan Rice, I think that [former deputy national security adviser] Ben Rhodes, I think that most likely Barack Obama himself through his conduits were leaking about the names they got through intelligence."
Nunberg then referenced several news reports that suggested the Obama administration may have violated the rules around the gathering of intelligence on U.S. citizens.
Democrats "want to use this issue to delegitimize President Trump, to delegitimize his agenda, and to keep filibustering people like [Supreme Court nominee] Neil Gorsuch," Nunberg said.
Gorsuch's path to the Supreme Court cleared a hurdle Monday when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance his nomination to a full Senate vote. Democrats, however, have the votes to launch a filibuster.
Nunberg thinks a filibuster could have some lasting consequences for Democrats.
"I think it's probably very likely and I'm very surprised by it because you're going to have . . . 10 senators that are running for re-election in 2018 in states that Donald Trump won," Nunberg said.
"Neil Gorsuch is extremely qualified. Something like 97 percent of his decisions have never been overturned in the higher court, he's been endorsed by the ABA, and there's absolutely no reason to do this except for the fact that the Democrats are the party of no and they want to obstruct anything that Donald Trump wants to do."