Trump drags key foreign allies into controversy over unproven wiretap claims
By Jenna Johnson and Karla Adam March 17 at 7:36 PM
President Trump’s unproven allegation that his predecessor wiretapped Trump Tower in New York ahead of the election blazed a new path of political disruption Friday as he dragged two foreign allies into his increasingly thin argument that he is right.
Standing next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a White House news conference Friday afternoon, Trump declined to express regret for the accusation he tweeted nearly two weeks ago, despite some of the highest-ranking members of his own party saying they have seen no evidence that any such wiretapping occurred. Trump also passed on the opportunity to reject an unfounded report from a Fox News commentator asserting that British intelligence agents were involved in the alleged spying — even though White House officials had just assured livid British leaders that they would no longer promote the claim.
“As far as wiretapping, I guess by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps,” Trump said to Merkel, referring to reports that the National Security Agency had tapped the chancellor’s phone in 2010 under President Barack Obama.
Merkel did not respond to Trump’s attempt at a joke.
The international incidents cap nearly two weeks of surreal debate over the president’s apparently baseless accusation that Obama personally ordered the wiretapping of his Trump Tower campaign headquarters, consuming the time of not only White House staffers but also Congress, the Justice Department, the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-drags-key-foreign-allies-into-controversy-over-unproven-wiretap-claims/2017/03/17/bd405278-0b2a-11e7-93dc-00f9bdd74ed1_story.html?utm_term=.356b6e3ab915&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
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