A pair of U.S. senators asked FBI Director James Comey and top Justice Department officials on Wednesday for any information that might validate President Trump’s claim that his campaign was wiretapped during the election.
“We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders … related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump campaign or Trump Tower,” Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., wrote in a letter to the two agencies.
“As chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, we would take any abuse of wiretapping authorities for political purposes very seriously,” they added.
The letter comes less than 24 hours after Graham emerged from a “great meeting” with Trump at the White House, and days after the president accused his predecessor of conducting surveillance on his campaign associates in the months leading up to Election Day.
Graham told reporters earlier this week that he wasn’t aware of any evidence that would substantiate the president’s allegations.
“I think it would be earth shattering if it happened,” he said Monday. “I don’t know what evidence he’s relying on. I don’t have any evidence of it, but it certainly behooves me and others to go out and investigate.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has been adamant that Trump is seeking a congressional investigation into the matter and will refrain from asking the FBI or Justice Department to confirm his charge that the previous administration requested a warrant to conduct surveillance inside Trump Tower or on individual aides to the president.
“There’s a separation of powers aspect here. It’s not a question of wasting [resources], it’s a question of appropriateness,” Spicer said Tuesday.
