House Judiciary Republicans Ask For FBI Briefing On Trump’s Wiretapping Claims

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, left, talks with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, as the 115th Congress gets underway. House Republicans voted Monday,... Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, left, talks with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, as the 115th Congress gets underway. House Republicans voted Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, night to gut the independent Office of Government Ethics, a move sponsored by Rep. Goodlatte, the House Judiciary chairman. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday for a briefing on President Donald Trump’s allegations that President Barack Obama “wire tapped” his phones at Trump Tower before the 2016 election.

“We again request a briefing regarding Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election, and additionally, on the very serious allegations that the President and/or his associates were or are under surveillance,” Republicans on the committee wrote in a letter to Comey.

Trump has offered no evidence to support the allegations since he made them on Saturday, and a spokesman for Obama rejected that claim later the same day.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer nevertheless called on Sunday for Congress to investigate the allegations, and House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said his committee will “make inquiries.”

On Tuesday, Spicer said that Trump has not asked Comey for evidence to prove the claim. Spicer also said that he has not personally seen any evidence to support the allegations.

“That’s at probably a level above my pay grade,” he said.

In their letter, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked for the briefing to also address continued leaks from the White House.

“These briefings must also, necessarily, address why information on any of these matters — which is presumably classified — continues to leak,” the letter reads.

The letter was signed by every Republican member of the committee except Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

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