U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has asked the Justice Department to dispute President Donald Trump's allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap on telephones at Trump Tower in New York last year.
U.S. officials who spoke to the Associated Press, Washington Post and New York Times said Comey's request followed Trump's accusation on Twitter Saturday. Trump has offered no evidence to support his claim.
What is not clear is why Comey has not disputed the statement himself. He was FBI director under Obama, and his department has been a lead in the ongoing investigation of Russian influence on last year's election.
Under U.S. law, a president cannot order someone's phone to be wiretapped. Such a move would require approval by a federal judge and be based on reasonable grounds to suspect why a citizen's telephone calls should be monitored.
Obama's Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called Trump's charge simply false. "There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate or against his campaign," Clapper told NBC.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said in a statement Sunday his committee "will make inquiries into whether the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political party's campaign officials or surrogates."The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, said Trump's accusation was based on "conspiracy-based news."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer issued a statement Sunday saying the president is requesting the committees to "determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016." He added that neither Trump nor the White House would offer further comment "until such oversight is conducted."
美国联邦调查局局长科米要求司法部对川普总统的指控提出异议，川普称前总统奥巴马去年下令对纽约的川普大厦的电话进行窃听。
与美联社、华盛顿邮报和纽约时报交谈过的美国官员们说，科米是在川普总统星期六在推特上做出指控后提出这一要求的。川普没有提供支持他这一说法的证据。
不清楚的是，为什么科米自己没有对川普的声明提出异议。他是奥巴马在任时的联邦调查局局长，他的部门一直是调查俄罗斯对去年美国大选影响的主导机构。
根据美国法律，总统不能下令窃听某人的电话。这种做法需要联邦法官的批准，并要基于合理的怀疑，为什么要监听该公民的电话交谈。
奥巴马时期的国家情报局局长詹姆斯·克拉珀称川普的指控纯属捏造。克拉珀在NBC的节目上说，“没有对当时的当选总统，或他作为候选人时，或针对他的竞选活动，进行过这样的窃听”。
国会众议院情报委员会主席努涅斯在一份声明中说，该委员会“将调查政府是否对任何政党的竞选官员或其助理进行监视活动”。该委员会最资深的民主党人亚当·希夫说，川普的指控是“基于阴谋论的资讯”。
白宫资讯秘书斯派塞周日发表声明说，川普总统要求委员会“确定行政部门是否在2016年滥用其调查权力”。他补充说，在调查得出结论之前，川普总统和白宫都不会做出进一步的评论。
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