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In a Repudiation of Trump, a Senior House Leader Rejects Wiretap Claim Openly Testy, Republicans Reject the President’s Wiretap Claims
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — In a striking repudiation of President Trump, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a Republican, said on Wednesday that he had seen no indication of Mr. Trump's claim on Twitter that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. WASHINGTON — In a striking repudiation, Republicans on Wednesday threatened subpoenas and vented openly about the lack of evidence behind President Trump’s tweet that President Barack Obama had wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign.
“We don’t have any evidence that that took place,’’ Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference on Capitol Hill. “In fact, I don’t believe — in the last week of time, people we’ve talked to, I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.” The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Devin Nunes of California, told reporters on Capitol Hill that “I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower” and that Mr. Trump, if taken literally, is simply “wrong.”
If Mr. Trump’s Twitter claim is to be taken literally, Mr. Nunes said, “then clearly the president is wrong.” Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, said he had provided no information to Mr. Trump that might have formed the basis for the president’s claim.
Even a member of Mr. Trump’s cabinet, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, raised questions about the claim. In Richmond, Va., he told reporters that he had never given Mr. Trump any reason to believe he had been wiretapped. And two Republican senators threatened to block Mr. Trump’s nominee for deputy attorney general until they get clarity from the F.B.I. about the accuracy of the president’s assertions. One of them vowed to issue subpoenas, if needed.
Other top Republicans were threatening to block Mr. Trump’s nominee for deputy attorney general if the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not provide evidence related to the possible wiretapping. But Mr. Trump appeared defiant. In a Fox News interview, he hinted at a broader meaning to his Twitter messages and suggested that his online assertions would eventually be vindicated, saying that “wiretap covers a lot of different things.”
Mr. Nunes and Representative Adam Schiff of California, the intelligence committee’s ranking Democrat, said the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, would testify Monday at the committee’s first public hearing on its Russian interference investigation. Mr. Comey could presumably resolve the question about the wiretap. Mr. Trump added, “I think you’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks.”
It is unclear if Republicans will accept an effort by Mr. Trump and his aides to redefine what he meant. Mr. Nunes told reporters on Wednesday that lawmakers will have to confront that issue as hearings of the intelligence committee open on Monday.
In one of the most significant signs of pressure from within Mr. Trump’s own party, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would block the nomination of Rod J. Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general unless the F.B.I. answered his questions. Mr. Rosenstein had been expected to win Senate confirmation easily. The Judiciary Committee has primary oversight of the F.B.I.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, joined Mr. Grassley in the threat.
“We’ll hold up the deputy attorney general’s nomination until Congress is provided with information to finally clear the air as to whether or not there was ever a warrant issued against the Trump campaign,” Mr. Graham said on NBC’s “Today” program.
A delay on Mr. Rosenstein’s appointment would create a number of problems for the Justice Department. In particular, he was expected to oversee any department investigations into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election after Mr. Sessions recused himself because Mr. Sessions was an adviser to the Trump presidential campaign.
Previous presidents have faced similar uprisings within their own parties: Democratic lawmakers initially denounced President Bill Clinton’s behavior with an intern that led to his impeachment in the House, and Republican frustration with the Iraq war, as President George W. Bush’s approval ratings fell, hampered Mr. Bush’s second-term agenda.
But rarely does a president clash so forcefully with his own party so early in his first year. Mr. Trump already faces a difficult dynamic on Capitol Hill as he struggles to push through a major overhaul of the nation’s health care system that is already dividing the Republican-controlled Congress.
To overcome that intraparty opposition — not to mention the hostility to his health care plan from Democrats — Mr. Trump will need to woo the very Republicans who are increasingly growing weary of defending his online assertions.
In the days since Mr. Trump’s Twitter post on March 4, the White House has offered a series of shifting response, explanations and clarifications, some of which have been in conflict with each other.
Democrats have been particularly aggressive in assailing the president and his staff. Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Democrat, said Wednesday that if no evidence emerged to substantiate his claim, Mr. Trump should “explain himself.”
“You can’t level an accusation of that type without retracting it or explaining just why it was done,” he said.
Mr. Nunes and Mr. Schiff said the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, would testify Monday at the committee’s first public hearing on its Russian interference investigation. Mr. Comey could presumably resolve the question about the wiretap.
Mr. Schiff also challenged the statements of Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had said that while he was not aware of any investigation targeting Mr. Trump, the president spoke accurately when he said he had been wiretapped by Mr. Obama.Mr. Schiff also challenged the statements of Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had said that while he was not aware of any investigation targeting Mr. Trump, the president spoke accurately when he said he had been wiretapped by Mr. Obama.
“Those two things cannot both be true unless he is suggesting that the F.B.I. was engaged in a rogue operation unsupervised by a court to wiretap Trump Tower,” Mr. Schiff said. “There is absolutely no evidence of that and no suggestion of any evidence of that.”“Those two things cannot both be true unless he is suggesting that the F.B.I. was engaged in a rogue operation unsupervised by a court to wiretap Trump Tower,” Mr. Schiff said. “There is absolutely no evidence of that and no suggestion of any evidence of that.”
In another sign of pressure, Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would block the nomination of Rod J. Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general unless the F.B.I. answered his questions. Mr. Rosenstein had been expected to win Senate confirmation easily. The Judiciary Committee has primary oversight of the F.B.I. As part of the F.B.I.’s investigation into Russian meddling in the election, agents are looking at whether any of Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with the Russian government.
The F.B.I. is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As part of that case, agents are looking at whether any of Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with the Russian government. After Mr. Trump made the claim on Twitter that Mr. Obama had tapped his telephone, Mr. Comey asked the Justice Department to make a statement disputing Mr. Trump’s assertion.
After Mr. Trump made the claim on March 4 in a Twitter message that President Barack Obama had tapped his telephone, Mr. Comey, asked the Justice Department to make a statement disputing Mr. Trump’s assertion. So far the Justice Department has refused to say publicly whether it went to a judge to get a secret warrant to eavesdrop on Mr. Trump, putting the department in a difficult position. Silence from the Justice Department has frustrated Mr. Comey.
So far, the Justice Department has refused to say publicly whether it went to a judge to get a secret warrant to eavesdrop on Mr. Trump, putting the department in a difficult position. Silence from the Justice Department has frustrated Mr. Comey.
If the Justice Department says there was no wiretap, it undercuts the president’s accusation. If there was a wiretap, it suggests that F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors had probable cause to believe that Mr. Trump the candidate was operating as an agent of a foreign power.If the Justice Department says there was no wiretap, it undercuts the president’s accusation. If there was a wiretap, it suggests that F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors had probable cause to believe that Mr. Trump the candidate was operating as an agent of a foreign power.
It is not clear why Mr. Trump thought he was wiretapped or what led him to make the claim, which was flatly rejected by James R. Clapper Jr., a former director of national intelligence, and by a spokesman for Mr. Obama.It is not clear why Mr. Trump thought he was wiretapped or what led him to make the claim, which was flatly rejected by James R. Clapper Jr., a former director of national intelligence, and by a spokesman for Mr. Obama.
Mr. Graham and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked the F.B.I. last week for copies of any warrant applications and court orders “related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.” Mr. Graham and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked the F.B.I. last week for copies of any warrant applications and court orders “related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump campaign or Trump Tower.”
On Wednesday, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said during an appearance on CNN that he would also subpoena the F.B.I. to get the information if necessary. Mr. Graham said Wednesday afternoon that the F.B.I. had offered to respond to the letter from him and Mr. Whitehouse in a classified briefing.
“I want to get to the bottom of it,” Mr. Graham said. “The F.B.I. would know if a warrant was issued. They would know if a warrant was applied for. I want to answer that question.” Mr. Comey met behind closed doors Wednesday afternoon with Mr. Grassley, along with Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
A delay on Mr. Rosenstein’s appointment would create a number of problems for the Justice Department. In particular, he was expected to oversee any department investigations into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election after Mr. Sessions recused himself because Mr. Sessions was an adviser to the Trump presidential campaign.