More time needed for wire-tap proof

Justice Department wants more time to respond to inquiry into Trump’s accusations against Obama

The Justice Department is requesting more time to respond to a congressional inquiry into President Donald Trump’s unproven assertion that his predecessor wiretapped his New York skyscraper, a claim that has left Trump increasingly isolated within his own administration.

The department had been expected to provide a response by Monday to the House Intelligence Committee, which has made Trump’s wiretapping claims part of a bigger investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

But spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores says in a statement Monday that the department has asked for more time to “review the request in compliance with the governing legal authorities and to determine what if any responsive documents may exist.”

Trump tweeted earlier this month that President Barack Obama had ordered him to be wiretapped. He presented no evidence, and the former intelligence director said last week that the claim was false.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to soften Trump’s assertions on Monday, saying the president “doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally.” He also said the president wasn’t using the term wiretapping literally in his provocative March 4 tweets and was instead broadly referring to surveillance.

Trump’s accusations against Barack Obama came amid a swirling political controversy surrounding his associates’ possible ties to Russia. The FBI is investigating Trump associates’ contacts with Russia during the election, as are House and Senate intelligence committees.

The White House has asked those committees to also investigate Trump’s allegations against Obama. The House committee has turned the matter back on the Trump administration, setting a Monday deadline for the Justice Department to provide evidence.

Spicer said he expected the Justice Department to comply with that request, but added that Trump did not order the department to do so.