Intelligence-Panel Members Say They Will Probe Trump’s Wiretap Claims

Donald Trump has accused Barack Obama of “wire tapping” his offices in New York City before the presidential election in November past year, claiming the former president had overseen a “Nixon/Watergate”-style intervention”.

In an early Saturday morning Twitter rant, Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of wiretapping him before the presidential election.

But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pressed ahead, calling on Congress to probe “very troubling” reports “concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election”.

“Who was it that secretly said to Russian President, ‘Tell Vladimir that after the election I’ll have more flexibility, ‘” tweeted Trump, under fire for his administration’s ties to Moscow.

An Obama spokesman has denied Trump’s accusation as “simply false”.

Comey, who put in the request on Saturday, told DOJ officials that the president must correct the public record partly because it insinuates the Federal Bureau of Investigation had broken the law.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines wiretapping as the act of “tapping a telephone or telegraph wire in order to get information”.

Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a California Republican, was careful not to mention Trump’s allegations, noting the investigation involves looking at “the U.S. government’s response to actions taken by Russian intelligence agents during the presidential campaign”.

But other Republicans were sceptical.

The former White House spokesman explained: “We know exactly why President Trump tweeted what he tweeted”.

Democrats, meanwhile, are demanding that the DoJ name a special prosecutor to investigate alleged ties between Trump campaign aides and Russian Federation.

Trump was reportedly angry at Bannon and Reince Priebus for their handling of the scandal over attorney general Jeff Sessions’ alleged links to Russian Federation.

“The President wants the truth to come out to the American people through the house intelligence committee and that is the process we go through”, she added.

The president was also said to be angry that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused, or excused, himself from any election campaign or Russia-related investigations.

Another judiciary committee Democrat, Senator Richard Blumenthal, has vowed to “use every possible tool” to block Mr Rosenstein’s nomination until he promises to name a special prosecutor.

Trump lashed out at his senior team during an Oval Office meeting Friday, according to one White House official.