SENATORS DEMAND TO SEE WIRETAP EVIDENCE
Trump’s claims about Obama treated seriously
WASHINGTON • The leaders of a congressional inquiry into Russia’s efforts to sway the U.S. election called on the Justice Department Wednesday to produce any evidence that supports President Donald Trump’s explosive wiretapping allegation.
Declaring Congress “must get to the bottom” of Trump’s claim, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse asked Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente and FBI Director James Comey to produce the paper trail created when the Justice Department’s criminal division secures warrants for wiretaps.
Trump tweeted last weekend that former president Barack Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower during the election. But Trump offered no evidence to back up the accusation. Through a spokesman, Obama said neither he nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Trump’s claims took place.
As the Republican chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary crime and terrorism subcommittee, Graham and Whitehouse said they would take very seriously “any abuse of wiretapping authorities for political reasons.”
But, they added, “We would be equally alarmed to learn that a court found enough evidence of criminal activity or contact with a foreign power to legally authorize a wiretap of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.”
The senators are seeking warrant applications and court orders, which they said can be scrubbed to protect secret intelligence sources and methods.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he needs to be able to “sort fact from fiction” before making any decisions about Trump’s wiretapping allegation.
Grassley also said he’s waiting to receive a briefing from Comey, who told the senator he’s awaiting clearance from the Justice Department.
The House and Senate Intelligence committees, and the FBI, are investigating contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, as well as whether Moscow tried to influence the 2016 election. Trump demanded they broaden the scope of their inquiries to include Obama’s potential abuse of executive powers.
Graham acknowledged Trump’s desire for the intelligence committees to have purview, but argued the subcommittee has oversight of the Justice Department’s criminal division.