White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined on Tuesday to say whether he believes President Trump’s claim that the Obama administration wiretapped members of his campaign just before the election.
“I get that that’s a cute question,” Spicer shot back when a reporter asked him point blank whether he believes Trump.
“My job is to represent the president and to talk about what he’s doing and what he wants, and he’s made very clear what his goal is [and] what he would like to have happen,” he said.
Spicer on allegations Trump was wiretapped by Obama: "I guess that's a cute question." https://t.co/Mg91DXJt0A pic.twitter.com/Uqh7d6zYNI— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 7, 2017
Spicer said Trump has not been in contact with FBI Director James Comey to determine whether there is evidence to support his claim. The White House has instead asked members of the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate the Obama administration’s intelligence-gathering activities prior to the election.
“There is clearly a role that Congress can play in its oversight capabilities,” Spicer said. “They’ve made it very clear that they have the staff, the resources and the process. I think that’s the appropriate place for this to [be] handle[d].”
Spicer suggested that reporters would criticize the White House if he or other administration officials were to get involved and make further comments about Trump’s claims.
“I think if we were to get involved, you would then write stories about how we were getting involved, so it’s a no-win situation,” he said.
