The US government has no evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama, ordered intelligence agencies to spy on him during the 2016 election campaign, according to sources who have seen classified Justice Department documents.
The Justice Department on Friday said it delivered documents to congressional committees responding to their request for information that could shed light on Trump’s claims.
The information was sent to the House and Senate intelligence and judiciary committees, said Sarah Isgur Flores, a Justice Department spokeswoman.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Devin Nunes, said in a statement late on Friday that the Justice Department had ‘fully complied’ with the panel’s request.
A government source, who requested anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said an initial examination of the material turned over by the Justice Department indicates that it contains no evidence to confirm Trump’s claims that the Obama administration had wiretapped him or the Trump Tower in New York.
Two government officials told CNN the same thing – there is no evidence in the documents that suggest Trump’s allegations are true.
The House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on Monday on allegations of Russian meddling in the US election.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers will testify and are expected to field questions on Trump’s wiretap claim.
Leaders of both the House and Senate intelligence committees, including from Trump’s Republican Party, have said they have found no evidence to substantiate Trump’s claims that Obama ordered US agencies to spy on Trump or his entourage. The White House has publicly offered no proof of the allegation.
On Monday, the House panel sent the Justice Department a letter asking for copies of any court orders related to Trump or his associates which might have been issued last year under an electronic surveillance law or a wide-ranging anti-crime statute.
Meanwhile, Trump on Friday rejected calls from both Democrats and Republicans to retract the charge and apologize.
Instead, he repeated the claim that Obama ordered his administration to spy on him.
Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump answered a question on the wiretap allegation by referring to the US National Security Agency’s reported tapping of Merkel’s phone several years ago.
‘As far as wiretapping, I guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common perhaps,’ Trump said.
But Trump also said he did not endorse a Fox News claim that Britain’s GCHQ spy agency did the wiretapping for Obama — an allegation repeated by Trump’s spokesman Thursday, sparking a sharp rebuke from London.
‘We said nothing’ about the GCHQ claim, Trump told journalists.
‘That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. And so you shouldn’t be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox,’ he said.
Fox News said it could not confirm the allegations.
‘Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way, full stop,’ anchor Shepard Smith said, reading an official statement on-air.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.