President Donald Trump turned to Congress on Sunday for help finding evidence to support his claim that former President Barack Obama had his telephones tapped during the election. Mr. Obama’s intelligence chief said no such action was ever carried out, and a U.S. official said the FBI has asked the Justice Department to dispute the allegation.
Mr. Trump claimed, in a series of tweets, that his predecessor had tried to undermine him by tapping the telephones at Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper where the President based his campaign and transition operations, and maintains a home.
Mr. Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Mr. Trump’s claims had taken place.
“Absolutely, I can deny it,” said Mr. Clapper, who left government when Mr. Trump took office in January. Other representatives for the former president also denied Mr. Trump’s allegation.
The FBI has asked the Justice Department to dispute Mr. Trump’s allegations, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Sunday. The official wasn’t authorised to discuss the request by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
FBI disputes claim
The New York Times reported that senior American officials say FBI Director James Comey has argued that the claim must be corrected by the Justice Department because it falsely insinuates that the FBI broke the law.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said without elaborating on Sunday that Mr. Trump’s instruction to Congress was based on “very troubling” reports “concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election.” Mr. Spicer did not respond to inquiries about the reports he cited in announcing the request.
Mr. Spicer said the White House wants the congressional committees to “exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.” He said there would be no further comment until the investigations are completed.
