Democrat and Republican senators
Committee leaders express doubt on Trump claims
say there is no evidence that former President Obama tapped phones at Trump Tower, despite the current president repeatedly saying that he did.
WASHINGTON — The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee joined the chorus of lawmakers stating they are not aware of any evidence supporting President Donald Trump’s claim that his campaign headquarters was wiretapped during the presidential election season.
Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., on Thursday released a joint statement with the ranking Democrat, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, saying that they have not seen data supporting Trump’s claim.
“Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016,” they said.
Burr and Warner are leading the Senate investigation into Russia’s suspected interference in the 2016 elections to aid Trump. They are also examining alleged ties between Trump aides and Russian officials.
They were joined last week and again on Wednesday by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, RCalif., who also said he has not seen evidence to support the president’s complaint that his offices were wiretapped during the campaign.
Nunes, who served on Trump’s transition team, is leading a similar investigation in the House.
“I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower,” Nunes said. He added that if you are taking Trump’s tweets literally, which he advised people not to do, then “clearly the president was wrong.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday: “The Intelligence Committees in their continuing, widening, ongoing investigation of all things Russia, got to the bottom — at least so far — with respect to our intelligence community that — that no such wiretap existed.”
Trump press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that the president stands by his allegation, made in a March 4 tweet, that President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of his phones at Trump Tower in New York during the campaign in autumn. “He stands by it,” Spicer said.
Yet Trump admitted Wednesday in a Fox News interview that he had no solid proof that Obama ordered an effort to monitor his phone calls.
“I’ve been reading about things,” Trump said. Trump explained that after noticing an article in The New York Times and commentary by Fox anchor Bret Baier, Trump said he told himself, “Wait a minute, there’s a lot of wiretapping being talked about.”
In the interview, Trump maintained that information would soon be revealed that could prove him right, but he would not explain what that information might be. He said he would be “submitting certain things” to a congressional committee and that he was considering speaking about the topic next week.
“I think you’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks,” Trump said.
Tensions have flared between lawmakers and the Justice Department on the subject of Russia — especially over FBI Director James Comey’s approach to providing Capitol Hill with information about the bureau’s probe into Russia’s activities in the 2016 campaign.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is holding up the confirmation of deputy attorney general nominee Rod Rosenstein until Comey testifies before his committee on the scope of the FBI’s Russia probe.
The tension could break into the open Monday during a House Intelligence Committee public hearing on Russia. The hearing will feature Comey and Adm. Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency.