WASHINGTON
(AP) -- White House officials on Monday defended President Donald
Trump's explosive claim that Barack Obama tapped Trump's telephones
during last year's election, although they won't say where that
information came from and left open the possibility that it isn't true.
In
televised interviews, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders said
Trump firmly believes the allegations he made on Twitter over the
weekend. The aides said any ambiguity surrounding the issue is all the
more reason for Congress to investigate the matter.
"We'd like to know for sure," Sanders, deputy White House press secretary, told NBC's "Today" show.
The
House and Senate intelligence committees, and the FBI, are
investigating contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian officials,
as well as whether Moscow tried to influence the 2016 election. On
Sunday, Trump demanded that they broaden the scope of their inquiries to
include Obama's potential abuse of his executive powers.
When
asked where Trump was getting his information from, Sanders said the
president "may have access to documents that I don't know about."
Likewise,
Conway said that "credible news sources" suggested there was
politically motivated activity during the campaign. But Conway also said
Trump might have access to other information she and others don't.
"He
is the president of the United States," Conway told Fox News' "Fox
& Friends. "He has information and intelligence that the rest of us
do not."
Trump
is said to be frustrated by his senior advisers' inability to tamp down
allegations about contacts between his campaign aides and the Russian
government. Compounding the situation was the revelation last week that
former U.S. senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an early
Trump campaign supporter, had met twice with the Russian ambassador but
didn't disclose that to lawmakers when he was asked about it during his
Senate confirmation hearing.
Separately,
an Indiana newspaper reported that Vice President Mike Pence used
personal email to conduct state business when he was governor of
Indiana. The revelation recalled the use of personal email by Trump's
2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state. The
issue dogged Clinton for most of the presidential campaign.
Senate
Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a
statement that the panel "will follow the evidence where it leads, and
we will continue to be guided by the intelligence and facts as we
compile our findings."
Rep.
Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,
said in a statement that the committee "will make inquiries into whether
the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political
party's campaign officials or surrogates."
Trump's
request carries some risk, particularly if the committees unearth
damaging information about him or his associates. Committee Democrats
will have access to the information and could wield anything negative
against the president. Asking Congress to conduct a much broader
investigation than originally envisioned also ensures the Russia issue
will hang over the White House for months.
Obama's director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said nothing matching Trump's claims had taken place.
"Absolutely,
I can deny it," said Clapper, who left government when Trump took
office. Other Obama representatives also denied Trump's allegation,
which the FBI has asked the Justice Department to dispute, a U.S.
official told The Associated Press on Sunday. The official wasn't
authorized to discuss the request by name and spoke on condition of
anonymity.
The
department, however, has issued no such statement. DOJ spokeswoman
Sarah Isgur Flores declined to comment Sunday, and an FBI spokesman also
did not comment.
Josh
Earnest, who was Obama's White House press secretary, said presidents
do not have authority to unilaterally order the wiretapping of American
citizens, as Trump has alleged was done to him. FBI investigators and
Justice Department officials must seek approval from a federal judge for
such a step. Earnest accused Trump of leveling the allegation to
distract from the attention being given to the Russia issue
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