House Dems press DOJ on contacts between White House, FBI

House Democrats are asking the Department of Justice for information on possible “improper” contacts between the White House and the FBI in the wake of President Trump’s claims that former President Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower phones before the election.

The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee penned a letter to Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente on Monday, after the New York Times reported that White House Counsel Donald McGahn was trying to access what he thought to be a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court order authorizing surveillance related to Trump and his aides.

The Democrats also asked the Justice Department to publicly refute Trump’s wiretapping claims, following reports that FBI Director James Comey had asked the department to do so.   

{mosads}“We write to express our concern regarding a disturbing series of events this weekend concerning the ongoing review by the Department of Justice of efforts by the Russian government to unlawfully influence the U.S. presidential election in favor of Mr. Trump,” the Democrats, led by ranking member John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), wrote.

“These events include unsubstantiated claims by President Trump concerning surveillance by the prior administration and related reports of improper contacts between the office of Donald F. McGahn, the White House Counsel, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, concerning the FBI’s ongoing review,” they wrote.

The committee Democrats asked for a description of communications and contacts — including phone, email, text messages and voicemails — between employees or associates of the White House and officials or representatives of the FBI or Justice Department. They also sent a letter to McGahn asking for similar information. 

The letter also cites a CNN report last month indicating that the White House asked the FBI to publicly knock down media reports about contacts between Trump aides and Russian officials during the presidential campaign, which the White House has characterized as inaccurate.

“This reported contact between the office of White House Counsel and law enforcement officials comes on top of several other reports of similar contacts between the White House and both the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the House Democrats wrote.

“If these reports are accurate, then these communications are both inappropriate and in violation of Department of Justice guidance,” they wrote.

Trump sparked media frenzy over the weekend when he alleged on Twitter that Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower before the presidential election. The White House has not offered evidence to support the claim but has pointed to media reports as a basis for the accusation. 

“We believe it is imperative that the Department issue a statement publicly addressing the accuracy of the President’s assertion because of the seriousness of the claim that the Department was used as a political weapon during an election campaign,” the Democrats wrote in the letter to the Justice Department on Monday. 

“Of course, if Donald Trump or his associates were the subject of lawful electronic surveillance due to suspicions that they were acting as agents of a foreign power or otherwise acting unlawfully, Congress should be advised of that in an appropriate setting,” they wrote.