White House Doubles Down On Trump’s False Claim That Obama Wiretapped Him

Administration Calls For Congressional Investigation, Declines Further Comment

Twenty-four hours after President Donald Trump bizarrely accused his predecessor of wiretapping him, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on the allegations. 

“Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling,” Spicer said in a statement early Sunday. “President Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016. Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted.”

Neither Trump nor White House officials have provided any evidence whatsoever to support the president’s claim that the Obama administration carried out a Watergate-like conspiracy to undermine his candidacy. In fact, the allegations appeared to be based on nothing more than a report from the right-wing publication Breitbart. 

Several former senior U.S. intelligence officials, as well as an Obama spokesperson, have refuted Trump’s claims. Even a current senior U.S. official in the Trump administration reportedly told MSNBC he has no idea what the president was talking about. 

Democrats in Congress have slammed Trump’s allegations, and even some Republican lawmakers are calling on the president to produce evidence in support of them. 

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Spicer’s statement.