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| House intelligence chiefs: we have seen no evidence for Trump's wiretap claim | House intelligence chiefs: we have seen no evidence for Trump's wiretap claim |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The Republican and Democratic leaders on the House intelligence committee said they have still not seen any evidence to support Donald Trump’s extraordinary – and unsubstantiated – claim that Barack Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower. | The Republican and Democratic leaders on the House intelligence committee said they have still not seen any evidence to support Donald Trump’s extraordinary – and unsubstantiated – claim that Barack Obama tapped his phones at Trump Tower. |
| “We don’t have any evidence that that took place,” the committee chairman, Devin Nunes, a Republican from California and a supporter of Trump’s campaign, said during a joint press conference with the panel’s top Democrat on Wednesday. | “We don’t have any evidence that that took place,” the committee chairman, Devin Nunes, a Republican from California and a supporter of Trump’s campaign, said during a joint press conference with the panel’s top Democrat on Wednesday. |
| “And in fact I don’t believe – just in the last week of time, the people we’ve talked to – I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.” | “And in fact I don’t believe – just in the last week of time, the people we’ve talked to – I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.” |
| The House intelligence panel has asked the justice department to respond to questions about whether it applied for a warrant to spy on Trump and his associates by 20 March, when the committee will hold a public hearing on its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The FBI director, James Comey, and National Security Agency director, Mike Rogers, are expected to testify at the hearing. | The House intelligence panel has asked the justice department to respond to questions about whether it applied for a warrant to spy on Trump and his associates by 20 March, when the committee will hold a public hearing on its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The FBI director, James Comey, and National Security Agency director, Mike Rogers, are expected to testify at the hearing. |
| Both Nunes and the California representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said they were willing to compel the department to meet their request if it has not responded by the deadline. | Both Nunes and the California representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said they were willing to compel the department to meet their request if it has not responded by the deadline. |
| Two senior members of the Senate judiciary committee said that Comey had not met a deadline they had set for him to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse had delivered a letter to the FBI director on 8 March, asking for an answer before they convened a subcommittee on Wednesday afternoon on Russian meddling in democracies around the world. | |
| Just before the hearing began, Graham said the subcommittee had received a message from the FBI saying it would be given a classified briefing on the matter “at some date in the future”. | |
| “The Congress is proceeding fairly blindly here. I think we’d all be better off as a body if we knew if there was investigation or not,” Graham said. “If there’s not one, we’ll take that into consideration about how we might do things differently. If there is one, we don’t want to run afoul of it. I don’t think that is an unfair thing to ask. | |
| “We gave the director until today to answer that question and all I can say is I still don’t have the answers to those questions,” he added. | |
| Whitehouse suggested congressional investigations were being hampered in its investigations by the FBI or justice department but was not told why. | |
| “It is not in my view appropriate for the executive branch of government or either tell or suggest to a legislative investigative subcommittee that they should hold back ... in our legitimate investigative function ... in order to not compromise ongoing law enforcement investigations, and at the same time, not confirm that investigations are ongoing,” the senator from Rhode Island said. | |
| Schiff said during the Capitol Hill press conference it was “irresponsible” of the president to make the allegations without providing evidence. | Schiff said during the Capitol Hill press conference it was “irresponsible” of the president to make the allegations without providing evidence. |
| “I would hope if we get to March 20 and if we have the testimony that I think we all expect from the [FBI] director that there was no substance to the accusation that Barack Obama illegally wiretapped Trump Tower, that the president explain himself,” Schiff said. “You can’t level an accusation of that type without retracting it or explaining just why it was done.” | “I would hope if we get to March 20 and if we have the testimony that I think we all expect from the [FBI] director that there was no substance to the accusation that Barack Obama illegally wiretapped Trump Tower, that the president explain himself,” Schiff said. “You can’t level an accusation of that type without retracting it or explaining just why it was done.” |
| Nunes, who conceded that it would be helpful if the president clarified his comments, said the veracity of Trump’s statement depended on whether the president’s tweets were taken literally. | Nunes, who conceded that it would be helpful if the president clarified his comments, said the veracity of Trump’s statement depended on whether the president’s tweets were taken literally. |
| “You have to decide, as I mentioned to you last week, are you going to take the tweets literally?” Nunes said. “If you are, then clearly the president was wrong.” | “You have to decide, as I mentioned to you last week, are you going to take the tweets literally?” Nunes said. “If you are, then clearly the president was wrong.” |
| Trump made the accusation against his predecessor in a series of tweets two weekends ago, and offered no evidence to substantiate the claims. | Trump made the accusation against his predecessor in a series of tweets two weekends ago, and offered no evidence to substantiate the claims. |
| The press conference comes one day after the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said Trump was “extremely confident” that the justice department would produce evidence to the House committee that vindicated the president’s accusation. | The press conference comes one day after the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said Trump was “extremely confident” that the justice department would produce evidence to the House committee that vindicated the president’s accusation. |
| In a shift of position on Monday, Spicer said the president did not mean literally that Obama had wiretapped him, and that the president had purposefully placed the word in quotation marks in one of his tweets to broadly suggest surveillance and other activities. | In a shift of position on Monday, Spicer said the president did not mean literally that Obama had wiretapped him, and that the president had purposefully placed the word in quotation marks in one of his tweets to broadly suggest surveillance and other activities. |
| “He doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally,” Spicer said. “But I think there’s no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election. That is a widely reported activity that occurred back then.” | “He doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally,” Spicer said. “But I think there’s no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election. That is a widely reported activity that occurred back then.” |
| On Wednesday, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said that he had not provided the president with any reason to believe his phones had been wiretapped. | On Wednesday, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said that he had not provided the president with any reason to believe his phones had been wiretapped. |
| Asked by a reporter during an event in Richmond, Virginia, Sessions replied: “The answer is no.” | Asked by a reporter during an event in Richmond, Virginia, Sessions replied: “The answer is no.” |
| Sessions has recused himself from any investigations involving the president and the transition, including an inquiry into charges that Russia interfered in the US presidential election to undermine Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Sessions’ decision to remove himself from the investigation came after it was discovered that he had previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States. | Sessions has recused himself from any investigations involving the president and the transition, including an inquiry into charges that Russia interfered in the US presidential election to undermine Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Sessions’ decision to remove himself from the investigation came after it was discovered that he had previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States. |
| The House and Senate intelligence committees were already investigating Russia’s role in the US election when the president made the wiretapping allegations, which Obama denied through a spokesman. | The House and Senate intelligence committees were already investigating Russia’s role in the US election when the president made the wiretapping allegations, which Obama denied through a spokesman. |
| The White House asked the Republican-led committees look into the president’s claim as part of their investigation, and they agreed. Nunes said he wanted to “verify” that the intelligence community was using its surveillance power “responsibly and by the law”. | The White House asked the Republican-led committees look into the president’s claim as part of their investigation, and they agreed. Nunes said he wanted to “verify” that the intelligence community was using its surveillance power “responsibly and by the law”. |
| During the press conference on Wednesday, Nunes hinted that it may be difficult to prove or disprove some claims they are investigating because of a conflict with the office of the director of National Intelligence. He said the office is reluctant to grant Congress access to the “proper computer technology” to review evidence about Russian interference in the election. | During the press conference on Wednesday, Nunes hinted that it may be difficult to prove or disprove some claims they are investigating because of a conflict with the office of the director of National Intelligence. He said the office is reluctant to grant Congress access to the “proper computer technology” to review evidence about Russian interference in the election. |
| “It has become a little bit of a stumbling block for our investigators to actually be able to compile and cull through the information,” Nunes said. | “It has become a little bit of a stumbling block for our investigators to actually be able to compile and cull through the information,” Nunes said. |
| The US intelligence agencies believe Russia interfered with the 2016 US election in order to help Trump win. For months Trump rejected the idea of Russian meddling, until eventually conceding “I think it was Russia” at a press conference in January. | The US intelligence agencies believe Russia interfered with the 2016 US election in order to help Trump win. For months Trump rejected the idea of Russian meddling, until eventually conceding “I think it was Russia” at a press conference in January. |