Senators seek evidence to support wiretapping claim

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The leaders of a congressional inquiry into Russia’s efforts to sway the U.S. election called on the Justice Department on Wednesday to produce any evidence that supports President Donald Trump’s explosive wiretapping allegation.

Declaring that Congress “must get to the bottom” of Trump’s claim, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., 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 had 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 had ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Trump’s claims had taken place.

Following Trump’s tweet, FBI Director James Comey privately asked the Justice Department to dispute the president’s claim because he believed the allegations to be false.