The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Trump stands by his Obama wiretap claim
Allegation of UK involvement branded ‘ridiculous’
Donald Trump has stood by his unproven claim that his predecessor Barack Obama wiretapped his phones.
The US President suggested he was the victim of the same sort of surveillance the Obama administration was once alleged to have used to monitor German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s calls.
“At least we have something in common, perhaps,” Mr Trump said during a joint news conference with Mrs Merkel.
The chancellor, who was making her first visit to the White House since Mr Trump took office, did not weigh in on the 2013 incident, which angered many in Germany.
Mr Trump’s allegations against Mr Obama have sparked reactions ranging from bafflement to anger in Washington, with both Democrats and Republican lawmakers saying they have no evidence to support his claim.
But the White House’s refusal to back down has created more problems for the new administration.
On Thursday, spokesman Sean Spicer defended the President’s comments by repeating a Fox News analyst’s report that GCHQ, the British electronic intelligence agency, had helped Mr Obama wiretap Mr Trump.
The agency vigorously denied the charge and Britain’s ambassador to Washington, Kim Darroch, complained directly to White House officials.
Mr Trump tried to distance himself from the wiretapping report yesterday.
“All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television,” Mr Trump said, referring to analyst Andrew Napolitano. “You shouldn’t be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox.”
The White House has assured Britain’s ambassador US that it will not repeat allegations that GCHQ spied on Donald Trump.
Sir Kim spoke directly to Sean Spicer after the presidential spokesman repeated a claim that the British eavesdropping agency was used by Barack Obama to spy on Mr Trump.
In a rare public intervention, the allegations were denounced by GCHQ as “utterly ridiculous” – a position backed by senior UK Government officials, including Sir Kim and national security adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesman said they had received assurances the claims will not be repeated – showing the US administration did not give them any credence.
Mr Trump tweeted earlier this month that Mr Obama “was tapping my phones in October” and compared the incident to “Nixon/Watergate” and “McCarthyism”.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence weighed in on Thursday, finding “no indications” that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance.
Republicans in Congress also said Mr Trump should retract his claims. Charlie Dent called the accusation against Britain “inexplicable” and the accusation against Mr Obama unfounded.
“A president only has so much political capital to expend and so much moral authority as well, and so any time your credibility takes a hit, I think in many ways it weakens the officeholder,” Mr Dent said.
All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. PRESIDENT TRUMP