There’s truth to President Trump’s claim that there was wiretapping inside his Midtown skyscraper during the Obama administration — only Trump wasn’t the target.
The FBI listened in on phone conversations and monitored text messages between 2011 and 2013 while probing a gambling and money-laundering ring tied to the Russian mob that operated out of a 63rd-floor pad in Trump Tower, ABC News reported Tuesday.
The $5 million condo, unit 63A, is located just three floors below the president’s lavish, triplex penthouse.
“Everything was moving in and out of there,” said ex-FBI official Rich Frankel, who’s now an ABC consultant.
The ring was headed by the apartment’s then-owner, Vadim Trincher, whose son, Illya, ran a related gambling ring that was financed by art dealer Helly Nahmad.
Nahmad — who’d bought up all the apartments on Trump Tower’s 51st floor — was sentenced to a year and day in prison after copping a plea to gambling charges for his role in the scheme, which catered to high-rollers and A-list celebs including movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and then-Yankee Alex Rodriguez.
According to court records, the feds tapped Vadim Trincher’s cellphone for around four months, and caught him “communicating directly” with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a reputed Russian mobster who’s charged with fixing figure skating at the 2002 Olympics.
While Trincher was under surveillance in 2012, he and his wife sued Trump Tower Condominium and a construction company over a water leak that led to the growth of mold in their guest room.
The suit — which sought more than $6 million over damage to custom wall panels, “very valuable furniture” and an “extremely rare silk rug” — was settled for an undisclosed amount less than a week later, court records show.
Property records show that Vadim Trincher — who’s finishing up a five-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy — transferred ownership of the apartment to his wife in 2014, but the feds slapped a $75,000 lien on it last year, to cover his unpaid fine.
This month, Trump ignited a firestorm of controversy with a series of tweets that claimed then-President Barack Obama “had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower” shortly before last year’s election.