MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The denial comes after Trump's tweet accusing Obama of having the ex-real estate mogul's Trump Tower headquarters' "wires tapped" prior to the election, describing this as the former administration's "new low." The president went on to compare the alleged surveillance to McCarthyism and the Watergate scandal.
Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 марта 2017 г.
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 марта 2017 г.
"A cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false," Obama's spokesman Kevin Lewis said in his official Twitter account.
Frm Pres @BarackObama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. pic.twitter.com/X5Fk3xRDEX
— Kevin Lewis (@KLewis44) 30 января 2017 г.
A senior US official also told the NBC News channel that Trump's allegations were unfounded and the president had not consulted with members of the government before making them.
The tweet came after a Fox News interview where the issue had come up.
The statement comes amid reports of alleged Trump's team's ties with Russian officials. On February 15, The New York Times reported, citing phone records and intercepted calls, members of Trump’s presidential campaign team and several associates allegedly contacted Russian intelligence and government officials prior to the 2016 US election. Both Washington and Moscow have repeatedly refuted the allegations.
