After months of suspicions and accusations from both President Trump and the media, some truth has surfaced concerning wiretapping in the 2016 election.

On Sept. 19, CNN confirmed the U.S. Government did wiretap Donald Trump’s then campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. It occurred both before and after the election, and an investigation on Manafort began in 2014.

Manafort first became a person of interest due to his law firm’s connection with past President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych had ties to Russia, as his administration was pro-Russia for the future of Ukraine. Eventually, Yanukovych and his administration were accused of corruption and stealing money from the state.

According to CNN, a secret order was put out three years ago by the court handling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after Manafort became the subject of an FBI investigation. The investigation was discontinued last year due to lack of evidence, but the court granted a second warrant to the FBI earlier this year. Sources tell CNN they granted the warrant in order to investigate ties between Trump and Russia. Suspicions heightened when intercepted messages sent between Manafort and Russian operatives surfaced.

“I know it is controversial, but I feel the government is justified in the things they do to try to keep us safe. Privacy is important, but if someone could potentially be a threat to us, I think we should keep a close eye on them,” Adrienne M. ‘18 said

The investigation continued through Trump’s inauguration, and was then made public. Lawyers representing both Manafort and the White House insisted they stop, hence the halt of the investigation.

“It’s important to keep an eye on people who could be dangerous, but Trump and his cabinet are still citizens and should be able to keep their right to privacy,” Aurora L. ‘18 said.

When Manafort took over as campaign chairman for Trump, the FBI had not yet intervened. In August, Manafort was no longer part of the campaign, but he was still under investigation for Russian connections, so surveillance began under the new FISA warrant.

The FBI denies listening in to the Trump campaign in June 2016 during his meeting with son Donald Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer who claimed to have negative information on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

“We’re in a wait and see position here. We’ve seen a lot of smoke but no fire. All we can do is speculate for now, but there’s definitely more to come to unveil the whole truth,” AP Government teacher Gaven Jones said.

President Trump has his own speculations and received backlash from his March tweet accusing former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. The Justice Department denies tapping Trump’s own wires. However, Manafort does have a residence in Trump Tower, and it is unclear on whether or not surveillance occurred there. Additionally, FBI agents raided Manafort’s residence in Alexandria, Va. in July.