White House asks Congress to probe Trump’s claim of Obama wiretap

World Today

U.S. President Donald Trump demands a congressional inquiry for his claim that former President Barack Obama bugged his campaign headquarters. It’s part of the controversy over Russia’s alleged attempts to interfere with the outcome of the U.S. election.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Trump Tower, the iconic New York building that helped make Donald Trump, is now at the center of the latest political bombshell dropped by the U.S. President.

Trump claims that former President Barack Obama bugged telephones at Trump Tower while it was used to run his election campaign.

The U.S. President is demanding that congressional committees investigate a potential abuse of executive powers as part of an inquiry into what the White House calls Russian activity.

The U.S. has accused the Kremlin of trying to swing the result of last year’s election in Trump’s favor by hacking the campaign of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Critics say that Trump’s allegations are attempts to deflect attention from away from this. Susan Collins, a lawmaker from own his Republican party, told the American news network CBS that she wants to see proof.

It’s illegal for presidents to autonomously order surveillance on U.S. citizens and a spokesman for former President Obama rejected Trump’s claims of wiretapping during the campaign.

“There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign,” said James Clapper, former U.S. Director of National Intelligence under Obama, to NBC News.

The Russian connections continue to cause problems for Trump as he seeks to improve relations with Moscow.

Trump’s National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, was forced to quit after admitting he’d met the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign.

Trump’s Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, admitted that he had done the same. He recused himself from the ongoing inquiry into Russia’s alleged election interference.