Congress takes up Trump’s Obama wiretap claim

The US congress will investigate Trump’s claim that Obama wiretapped his headquarters during the election campaign.

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, tipped to be Donald Trump’s appointment as Moscow ambassador. Picture: AP

The US congress has stepped up its probe into Russia’s meddling in American politics and Donald Trump’s claim that Barack Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower during the election.

In a move that could backfire for the President, two key senators requested yesterday that the FBI and the Justice Department hand over any warrants to wire-tap the Republican campaign, including Trump Tower in New York.

The move follows Mr Trump’s stunning weekend claim that Mr Obama, as president, illegally wire-tapped him last year.

The President is likely to be criticised by Democrats and Republicans if a congressional probe into his claims, which Mr Trump requested, finds no basis for them.

“We request that the Department of Justice provide us with copies of any warrant applications and court orders ... related to wire-taps of President Trump, the Trump campaign, or Trump Tower,” Republican senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse wrote in a joint letter to FBI chief James Comey.

Senator Graham has vowed to test Mr Trump’s claim about Mr Obama’s wire-tapping amid widespread scepticism on both sides of politics and denials by former direc­tor of national intelligence James Clapper.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Mr Trump had tweeted last weekend.

Senator Graham said of the President: “He’s challenged the congress to look into this, and I will, along with Senator Whitehouse, look into whether or not there was any lawful warrant requested­ and received on the Trump campaign and whether or not there was any illegal activity regarding the Trump campaign.”

Congress has also stepped up its probe into Russia’s attempts to influence the election, with the CIA handing over raw intelligence on Russian activities to key congress members this week, before the first House of Representatives public hearings on March 20.

A number of key politicians have visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in recent days, where they been given four large folders of classified information relating to what the CIA believes were attempts by Russia to influence last year’s presidential elect­ion in favour of Mr Trump, including by hacking private emails from the Democratic Nation­al Committee.

House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes said former members of the Obama administration had been asked to testify on March 20, including Mr Clapper and former CIA director John Brennan.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly set to appoin­t former Utah governor and past presidential aspirant Jon Huntsman to the key post of US ambassador to Russia.

Mr Huntsman is considered a hawk on Russia and his appointment would help allay concerns among traditional Republicans that Mr Trump is too sympathetic to Moscow and its President ­Vladimir Putin.

The appointment would surprise some, given Mr Huntsman’s at times acrimonious relationship with the President.

Mr Huntsman called for Mr Trump to drop out of the presidential race last October after the release­ of a 2005 video in which Mr Trump made lewd comments about women.

Mr Trump was also critical of Mr Huntsman’s performance when he was US ambassador to China, claiming Beijing “did a major number on us” during his tenure.

Mr Huntsman would take the job at a critical time for the relationship­ between Washington and Moscow.

After running into substantial criticism from both sides of polit­ics for his praise of Russia and Mr Putin, Mr Trump has taken a tougher line against Moscow in recent weeks.

He has not raised the possib­ility of lifting US sanctions on Russia­, as briefly floated during his campaign, and this week he attacke­d Mr Obama for being too soft on Russia, allowing it to get “stronger and stronger, pick off Crimea and add missiles. Weak!”.

If the President were to make pro-Russian statements in the current climate he would alienate a large rump of Republican polit­icians whose support he needs to pass his contentious plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a health scheme known as Obamacare.