Donald Trump: White House calls for investigation into unsubstantiated Obama 'wire-tapping' claim
Updated
The White House has asked Congress to examine whether the Obama administration abused its investigative authority during the 2016 campaign, as part of the ongoing congressional probe into Russia's influence on the election.
Key points:
- Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of wire-tapping his phones at Trump Tower during the 2016 election
- An Obama spokesman denied the charge, which remains unsubstantiated
- Senator Ben Sasse urged Mr Trump to explain what he knew about the wire-tapping allegations "ideally to the full public"
The request came a day after US President Donald Trump alleged, without supporting evidence, that then-president Barack Obama ordered a wire-tap of the phones at Trump's campaign headquarters in Trump Tower in New York.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump and administration officials would have no further comment on the issue until Congress had completed its probe, potentially heading off attempts to get Mr Trump to explain his accusations.
"Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling," Mr Spicer said in a statement.
"President Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016."
Mr Trump made the wire-tapping accusation in a series of early morning tweets, amid expanding scrutiny of his campaign's ties to Russia.
In his tweets, Mr Trump suggested Mr Obama was behind a politically motivated plot to upend his campaign.
He compared the alleged events to "Nixon/Watergate" and "McCarthyism!", calling Mr Obama a "Bad (or sick) guy".
An Obama spokesman denied the charge, saying it was "a cardinal rule" that no White House official interfered with independent Justice Department investigations.
Under US law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance was an "agent of a foreign power" in order to approve a warrant authorising electronic surveillance of Trump Tower.
Trump urged to explain allegations
After Mr Trump's well-received speech to Congress on Tuesday, the tweets reflected the President's growing frustration with the swirling allegations about his advisers' ties to Russia, which are under FBI investigation, and his team's inability to overcome them.
The White House did not respond to questions about what prompted the President's accusations that Mr Obama had tapped his phones.
Mr Trump said in the tweets that he had "just found out" the information, though it was unclear whether he was referring to a briefing, a conversation or a media report.
The President has in the past tweeted about unsubstantiated and provocative reports he reads on blogs or conservative websites.
The morning tweets stand out, even for the perpetually piqued Mr Trump, given the gravity of the charge and the strikingly personal attack on the former president.
Mr Trump spoke as recently as last month about how much he liked Mr Obama and how much they got along, despite their differences.
Representative Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that Mr Trump was making "the most outlandish and destructive claims without providing a scintilla of evidence to support them".
Meanwhile, senator Ben Sasse urged Mr Trump to explain what he knew about the wire-tapping allegations, "ideally to the full public, and at a bare minimum to the US Senate".
Mr Trump has been trailed for months by questions about his campaign's ties to Russia. The questions have been compounded by US intelligence agencies' assessment that Russia interfered with the election to help Mr Trump triumph over Hillary Clinton, along with disclosures about his aides' contacts with a Russian official.
Those disclosures have already cost retired General Michael Flynn his job as national security adviser and prompted calls from Democrats for Attorney-General Jeff Sessions to resign.
On Thursday, Mr Sessions withdrew from overseeing the FBI probe after acknowledging he did not disclose his campaign-season contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States when asked during his confirmation proceedings.
Reuters/AP
Topics: world-politics, donald-trump, us-elections, united-states
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