FBI Director to Brief US Lawmakers on Trump Surveillance Allegations

The FBI will provide the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism with a classified briefing on whether there was any warrant issued by any court to conduct surveillance of US President Donald Trump’s campaign or any of his associates, the subcommittee’s chairman Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On March 4, Trump took to Twitter to accuse Obama of having his Trump Tower headquarters' "wires tapped" prior to the 2016 presidential election, describing this as the former administration's "new low. The president went on to compare the alleged surveillance to McCarthyism and the Watergate scandal. The claims have been rejected by Obama's representative.

The following day, the White House said that Trump had asked the Congress to investigate this issue.

FBI Director James Comey disputed Trump’s allegation and asked the Justice Department to publicly denounce the claim, since such wiretapping order is considered to be illegal without a court's approval.On Tuesday, US media report suggested that the Justice Department requested more time to investigate Trump's allegations against the Obama administration.

 

"We’re going to get an answer to whether the Trump campaign was surveilled," Graham said of the briefing.

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff expressed concerns in a Wednesday press conference that Trump was making such serious accusations against Obama without any basis.

Nunes added that the White House should clarify whether Trump's tweet can be taken literally. The committee chairman stresses that the Trump administration's cooperation on this matter would help the investigation.