Top U.S. Senators Add Doubts About Trump Wiretap Allegation

U.S. President Donald Trump

WASHINGTON -- The Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said they have seen no indications that President Donald Trump’s New York offices were wiretapped before or during the 2016 election campaign.

The statement released on March 16 by Republican Chairman Richard Burr and the committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner, came one day after the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee issued a similar statement.

“Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016," the statement by Warner and Burr said.

In a Twitter post on March 4, Trump said his predecessor, Barack Obama, ordered wiretaps of his New York offices -- an extraordinary and explosive accusation that an Obama spokesman flatly denied.

A growing number of congressional leaders have called FBI Director James Comey to also offer evidence that would either support or refute Trump’s claim.

Comey and the head of the National Security Agency are slated to testify at a House hearing on March 20.