Manning denies instructing SIA head to spy on citizens; suggests AG made up the story

Patrick Manning says he did not give instructions to the Head of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) for certain wiretaps to be done as claimed by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan..

Ramlogan made the claim Tuesday during the debate in the Senate on the wiretapping bill. He said the head of the SIA admitted that.

"I want to tell the nation because it is being peddled that maybe Mr Manning didn't know...the head of the SIA informed us from the horse's mouth that he took instructions for certain wiretaps from the then Prime Minister, to whom he reported back," Ramlogan said during debate on the new wiretapping bill.

Read the story: Manning ordered SIA head to illegally spy on citizens: AG Ramlogan

Manning responded Wednesday in a media release in which he called Ramlogan's statement "an utterly false claim" and challenged Ramlogan to produce the evidence. He said the Attorney General was irresponsible in making such a statement in Parliament.

"I feel utterly convinced that, contrary to what he claims, he could have had no such information from Mr Nigel Clement, former Head of the SIA," Manning stated.

He added that there was never "any routine, direct reporting relationship" from the Head of the SIA to him as prime minister on matters pertaining to his role as Chairman of the National Security Council or in any other capacity.

Manning noted that "as was expected from time to time, as Chairman of the National Security Council, I would meet with the Head of the SIA on matters pertaining to National Security concerns." 

However he said on such occasions, there were never any discussions on wiretapping or on methods to be used in wiretapping.

"In other words, as prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, I never gave any directions to the Head of the SIA to engage in wiretapping," Manning insisted.

He said "sources and methods of information–gathering, in accordance with international protocol, were left up to the agencies themselves and "I never inquired how information was received or unearthed".

Manning Clement was dismissed after visiting the Office of the Attorney General to have one-on-one discussions. "It leads one to wonder about the nature of the conversation that took place on that occasion; and I am sure it gives cause for profound concern," Manning said.

He suggested that Ramlogan was making up the whole thing. "I wish to ask the Attorney General to stop letting his fertile imagination run wild.

"It is most unbecoming for one who holds such high office and very unsettling for the national community who expect calm, rationality and sobriety from those who impact so directly on the security and stability of our nation.

"Looking to 'buss a mark' or grab headlines should not be a major preoccupation of the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago."

"The national community must not now be made to suffer from the very intense competition among many in the Cabinet now anxiously aspiring to succeed the Prime Minister," Manning said.