GOP Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) on Saturday called on President Trump to release information backing up his allegation that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign.
“This allegation has serious implications. @POTUS should provide more info to Congress immediately to assess constitutionality and legality,” wrote Amash, a frequent Trump critic.
{mosads}Amash’s tweet echoed remarks from two other Republicans on Saturday, Sens. Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.), who indicated they were pushing for more information.
Graham said he was “very worried” about Trump’s claim that Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower before the November election. He said an illegal wiretap would represent “the biggest political scandal since Watergate,” while the ability of the Obama administration to legally obtain a warrant would also be a scandal.
Trump on Saturday claimed Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower before Election Day, tweeting the accusation without offering evidence.
“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Trump wrote, adding in another that Obama was “turned down by court earlier.”
Sasse noted that such a wiretapping warrant would have been approved by a court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
According to a senior White House official cited by The New York Times, Trump’s chief counsel Don McGahn was working on Saturday to secure access to what he believed to be an order issued by the FISA court involving surveillance related to Trump or associates.
The Times reported that the official didn’t offer evidence supporting the idea that such an order exists, but noted that it would be “highly unusual” for the White House to order the Department of Justice to turn over such an order given a tradition of independence for law enforcement.