United States President Donald Trump&#39;s explosive claim on Twitter that Barack Obama wiretapped his phone during last year&#39;s election campaign will be probed by a Congressional committee.

The chairman of the&nbsp;House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Devin Nunes, said they will investigate &quot;whether the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political party&#39;s campaign officials or surrogates&quot;. Nunes, however, stopped short of directly mentioning Trump&#39;s claims about the alleged Obama bugging.

The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/us/politics/trump-seeks-inquiry-into-allegations-that-obama-tapped-his-phones.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=first-column-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reports that FBI Director James Comey has this weekend asked the justice department to reject in public Trump&#39;s assertion, that Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump&#39;s phone. Comey argued that the highly charged claim is false, and must be corrected.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has been examining Russian interference in last year&#39;s US presidential election as well as Russia&#39;s cyber-activity, which has been viewed by many as a key reason for the withering of Hillary Clinton&#39;s presidential push.

The Committee&#39;s decision comes hours after the Donald Trump administration urged the Congress to follow up on the president&#39;s tweets, which without providing any evidence, accused Obama of tapping his phone.

On Saturday, Trump had tweeted: &quot;How low has President Obama gone to tapp &nbsp;my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!&quot;

Trump&#39;s insinuation was based on a report that came out in right-wing media organisation Breitbart News, which was until recently run by his chief advisor Steve Bannon.

Scrambling to contain the potential fallout, Trump&#39;s team requested the Congress to probe into what his spokesman Sarah Sanders said would be&nbsp;the &quot;greatest abuse of power and overreach that has ever occurred in the executive branch&quot;.

But Obama, through his spokesman, has denied ordering any surveillance on Trump.

US presidents cannot legally order such wiretaps, which require the approval of a federal judge and reasonable grounds for suspicion.

Obama&#39;s director of national intelligence James Clapper told NBC there was &quot;no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign&quot;.

Trump&#39;s latest incendiary statement comes at a time when his fledgling presidency has been rocked by a series of scandals linking his team members with Russian officials.

Amid this and several other revelations of Trump aides holding meetings with Russian officials, the White House has denied allegations of collusion.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a campaign to meddle in last November&#39;s presidential election in a bid to tilt it in Trump&#39;s favor.

Former CIA director Leon Panetta accused Trump of diversionary tactics.

&quot;They are trying to obfuscate and trying to cover up. They are trying to somehow raise other issues,&quot; he told CBS. &quot;In the end, it is going to be the truth that will determine what is involved here, and not Tweets, but the truth.&quot;

(WION with inputs from AFP)

Trump's accusation of Obama ordering a surveillance on him has been viewed by some as a diversion from his Russia links scandal

United States President Donald Trump's explosive claim on Twitter that Barack Obama wiretapped his phone during last year's election campaign will be probed by a Congressional committee. The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Devin Nunes, said they will investigate "whether the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political party's campaign officials or surrogates". Nunes, however, stopped short of directly mentioning Trump's claims about the alleged Obama bugging. The New York Times reports that FBI Director James Comey has this weekend asked the justice department to reject in public Trump's assertion, that Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump's phone. Comey argued that the highly charged claim is false, and must be corrected. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has been examining Russian interference in last year's US presidential election as well as Russia's cyber-activity, which has been viewed by many as a key reason for the withering of Hillary Clinton's presidential push. The Committee's decision comes hours after the Donald Trump administration urged the Congress to follow up on the president's tweets, which without providing any evidence, accused Obama of tapping his phone. On Saturday, Trump had tweeted: "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" Trump's insinuation was based on a report that came out in right-wing media organisation Breitbart News, which was until recently run by his chief advisor Steve Bannon. Scrambling to contain the potential fallout, Trump's team requested the Congress to probe into what his spokesman Sarah Sanders said would be the "greatest abuse of power and overreach that has ever occurred in the executive branch". But Obama, through his spokesman, has denied ordering any surveillance on Trump. US presidents cannot legally order such wiretaps, which require the approval of a federal judge and reasonable grounds for suspicion. Obama's director of national intelligence James Clapper told NBC there was "no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time as a candidate or against his campaign". Trump's latest incendiary statement comes at a time when his fledgling presidency has been rocked by a series of scandals linking his team members with Russian officials. Amid this and several other revelations of Trump aides holding meetings with Russian officials, the White House has denied allegations of collusion. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a campaign to meddle in last November's presidential election in a bid to tilt it in Trump's favor. Former CIA director Leon Panetta accused Trump of diversionary tactics. "They are trying to obfuscate and trying to cover up. They are trying to somehow raise other issues," he told CBS. "In the end, it is going to be the truth that will determine what is involved here, and not Tweets, but the truth." (WION with inputs from AFP)

US Congressional body to probe Trump's wire-tap claim against Obama

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump finally admitted that US President Barack Obama is an American citizen in a nationally televised event on Friday. 
 
&quot;President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period,&quot; Trump said, as his campaign tried to silence damaging charges of racism. 
 
Trump continues to falsely blame Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for starting the &quot;birtherism&quot; controversy. 
 
&quot;Her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean,&quot; Trump said. 
 
Trump has questioned Obama&#39;s US citizenship since 2011, which is a legal prerequisite for becoming president. 
 
After Trump on Thursday again demurred on Obama&#39;s nationality, his campaign was forced to issue a statement. 
 
&quot;Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States,&quot; his campaign said. 
 
Trump&#39;s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said Trump&rsquo;s campaign was founded on Obama&rsquo;s citizenship. 
 
&quot;For five years, he has led the birther movement to delegitimise our first black president,&quot; she said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;His campaign was founded on this outrageous lie. There is no erasing it in history. 
 
&quot;He&#39;s feeding into the worst impulses, the bigotry and bias that lurks in our country,&quot; she added.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Barack Obama was born in America, plain and simple. And Donald Trump owes him and the American people an apology.&quot; 
 
Trump&#39;s brief remarks on the subject came at the end of a lengthy campaign event that plugged his new hotel in the capital Washington, and his support from veterans, but scarcely touched on the &quot;birther&quot; issue. 
 
The White House has long viewed Trump&#39;s claims as racist, aimed at delegitimising the president. 
 
Asked about the renewed controversy, Obama made a veiled dig at the US media and its obsessive coverage of Trump. 
 
&quot;I am shocked that a question like that would come up at a time when we have so many other things to do,&quot; he said, before adding &quot;Well I am not that shocked.&quot; 
 
&quot;I was pretty confident about where I was born. My hope would be that the presidential election reflects more serious issues than that.&quot; &nbsp; 
 
In 2011, Obama produced his birth certificate, showing he was born at the Kapiolani Medical Center in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, to put an end to the allegations. 
 
Shortly after, Obama appeared at the White House Correspondents&#39; Dinner and publicly ridiculed Trump, who was in the audience. 
 
&quot;No one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that&#39;s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing?&nbsp; 
 
What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?&quot; 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

Republican presidential candidate had questioned Obama's nationality several times in the past

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump finally admitted that US President Barack Obama is an American citizen in a nationally televised event on Friday. "President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period," Trump said, as his campaign tried to silence damaging charges of racism. Trump continues to falsely blame Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for starting the "birtherism" controversy. "Her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean," Trump said. Trump has questioned Obama's US citizenship since 2011, which is a legal prerequisite for becoming president. After Trump on Thursday again demurred on Obama's nationality, his campaign was forced to issue a statement. "Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States," his campaign said. Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton said Trump’s campaign was founded on Obama’s citizenship. "For five years, he has led the birther movement to delegitimise our first black president," she said. "His campaign was founded on this outrageous lie. There is no erasing it in history. "He's feeding into the worst impulses, the bigotry and bias that lurks in our country," she added. "Barack Obama was born in America, plain and simple. And Donald Trump owes him and the American people an apology." Trump's brief remarks on the subject came at the end of a lengthy campaign event that plugged his new hotel in the capital Washington, and his support from veterans, but scarcely touched on the "birther" issue. The White House has long viewed Trump's claims as racist, aimed at delegitimising the president. Asked about the renewed controversy, Obama made a veiled dig at the US media and its obsessive coverage of Trump. "I am shocked that a question like that would come up at a time when we have so many other things to do," he said, before adding "Well I am not that shocked." "I was pretty confident about where I was born. My hope would be that the presidential election reflects more serious issues than that." In 2011, Obama produced his birth certificate, showing he was born at the Kapiolani Medical Center in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, to put an end to the allegations. Shortly after, Obama appeared at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and publicly ridiculed Trump, who was in the audience. "No one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" (WION with inputs from AFP)

Donald Trump admits US President Obama was born in America

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited flood-ravaged Louisiana on&nbsp;Friday, criticising the US president for not doing the same, as the region grapples&nbsp;with a historic disaster that killed 13 people. 
 
Trump and his vice presidential nominee Mike Pence met with local Republican leaders&nbsp;and emergency officials, and toured areas that just a few days ago were inundated&nbsp;with several feet of water. 
 
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, announced he was headed to Louisiana on Tuesday,&nbsp;after days of criticism from some in the southern state for not visiting during the&nbsp;week-long ordeal, which culminated with the Republican candidate on the ground and&nbsp;the president still on vacation. 
 
&quot;Honestly, Obama ought to get off the golf course and get down there,&quot; Trump said at&nbsp;a campaign rally later in the day in Michigan, alluding to the president&#39;s Wednesday&nbsp;golf game. 
 
Officials said about 40,000 homes were impacted by the floods, and more than 86,000&nbsp;people had so far registered for federal aid, with that number expected to grow. 
 
In announcing Obama&#39;s planned visit, the White House said the president would be&nbsp;&quot;mindful of the impact that his travel has on first responders&quot; and did not want to&nbsp;&quot;interfere with ongoing recovery efforts.&quot; 
 
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards had previously indicated he would prefer Obama&nbsp;wait at least a week before visiting, to avoid pulling law enforcement officers away&nbsp;from the recovery effort in order to implement presidential security. 
 
&quot;We need every person to focus on continuing to rescue people,&quot; the state&#39;s&nbsp;lieutenant governor Billy Nungesser told MSNBC, agreeing with Edwards. 
 
&quot;The team he (Obama) has on the ground in Louisiana is doing a great job,&quot; said&nbsp;Nungesser, a Republican who greeted Trump when he arrived in Louisiana. 
 
Asked during a late afternoon news conference to comment on Trump&#39;s visit, Edwards&nbsp;avoided the subject. 
 
His office had put out a statement earlier in the day, saying he had not been&nbsp;informed of Trump&#39;s visit, but welcomed him as long as it was not &quot;for a photo-op.&quot; 
 
&quot;Instead, we hope he&#39;ll consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA&nbsp;(Louisiana) Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm,&quot; the statement read. 
 
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a statement saying she had&nbsp;spoken with Edwards and that the best course of action was to highlight the need for&nbsp;donations. 
 
&quot;Right now, the relief effort can&#39;t afford any distractions,&quot; Clinton said, adding,&nbsp;&quot;The very best way this team can help is to make sure Louisianans have the resources&nbsp;they need.&quot; 
 
Trump &#39;very gracious&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The first financial analysis of the disaster was released on Friday by the Baton&nbsp;Rouge Area Chamber, an economic development group. It suggested that the flood impact&nbsp;may be greater than first thought. 
 
The analysis found that as many as 110,000 homes worth $20.7 billion, most without&nbsp;flood insurance, were likely damaged in about half of the flooded parishes. 
 
While in Louisiana, Trump and Pence saw some of that damage first-hand, meeting with&nbsp;disaster relief volunteers, touring damaged structures, meeting an elderly couple who&nbsp;climbed to the roof of their home to survive the flood, and joining a short briefing&nbsp;with emergency officials. 
 
Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeffrey Wiley, who said he was in the briefing, told CNN&nbsp;that the candidate&#39;s visit helped bring much-needed national attention to the&nbsp;disaster.&nbsp;&quot;I will tell you he was very gracious and a good listener,&quot; he said. 
 
As the catastrophe unfolded over the past seven days, many in the state lamented the&nbsp;lack of national media coverage which would help bring more donations for victims. 
 
The White House says that the president received daily updates on the disaster,&nbsp;but the Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate took him to task for not yet visiting in&nbsp;person. 
 
&quot;Obama should recognise that leadership involves symbolism as well as substance. In&nbsp;times of profound need, people need to see their president up close,&quot; The Advocate&nbsp;said in an editorial. The newspaper, however, did give credit to the president for&nbsp;quickly responding when the state requested a federal disaster designation for much&nbsp;of its southern areas. 
 
Obama granted the designation to 20 of the state&#39;s 64 parishes - Louisiana&#39;s&nbsp;equivalent to counties and&nbsp;also sent surrogates to monitor and help in the disaster response,&nbsp;including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. 
 
The White House has clarified that in his visit next week, the president would get &quot;a first-hand look at the impact of the devastating floods and tell the people of Louisiana&nbsp;that the American people will be with them.&quot;

(AFP) 
 
 
&nbsp;

The White House says Obama stayed away since he does not want to 'interfere with ongoing recovery efforts'

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited flood-ravaged Louisiana on Friday, criticising the US president for not doing the same, as the region grapples with a historic disaster that killed 13 people. Trump and his vice presidential nominee Mike Pence met with local Republican leaders and emergency officials, and toured areas that just a few days ago were inundated with several feet of water. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, announced he was headed to Louisiana on Tuesday, after days of criticism from some in the southern state for not visiting during the week-long ordeal, which culminated with the Republican candidate on the ground and the president still on vacation. "Honestly, Obama ought to get off the golf course and get down there," Trump said at a campaign rally later in the day in Michigan, alluding to the president's Wednesday golf game. Officials said about 40,000 homes were impacted by the floods, and more than 86,000 people had so far registered for federal aid, with that number expected to grow. In announcing Obama's planned visit, the White House said the president would be "mindful of the impact that his travel has on first responders" and did not want to "interfere with ongoing recovery efforts." Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards had previously indicated he would prefer Obama wait at least a week before visiting, to avoid pulling law enforcement officers away from the recovery effort in order to implement presidential security. "We need every person to focus on continuing to rescue people," the state's lieutenant governor Billy Nungesser told MSNBC, agreeing with Edwards. "The team he (Obama) has on the ground in Louisiana is doing a great job," said Nungesser, a Republican who greeted Trump when he arrived in Louisiana. Asked during a late afternoon news conference to comment on Trump's visit, Edwards avoided the subject. His office had put out a statement earlier in the day, saying he had not been informed of Trump's visit, but welcomed him as long as it was not "for a photo-op." "Instead, we hope he'll consider volunteering or making a sizable donation to the LA (Louisiana) Flood Relief Fund to help the victims of this storm," the statement read. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a statement saying she had spoken with Edwards and that the best course of action was to highlight the need for donations. "Right now, the relief effort can't afford any distractions," Clinton said, adding, "The very best way this team can help is to make sure Louisianans have the resources they need." Trump 'very gracious' The first financial analysis of the disaster was released on Friday by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, an economic development group. It suggested that the flood impact may be greater than first thought. The analysis found that as many as 110,000 homes worth $20.7 billion, most without flood insurance, were likely damaged in about half of the flooded parishes. While in Louisiana, Trump and Pence saw some of that damage first-hand, meeting with disaster relief volunteers, touring damaged structures, meeting an elderly couple who climbed to the roof of their home to survive the flood, and joining a short briefing with emergency officials. Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeffrey Wiley, who said he was in the briefing, told CNN that the candidate's visit helped bring much-needed national attention to the disaster. "I will tell you he was very gracious and a good listener," he said. As the catastrophe unfolded over the past seven days, many in the state lamented the lack of national media coverage which would help bring more donations for victims. The White House says that the president received daily updates on the disaster, but the Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate took him to task for not yet visiting in person. "Obama should recognise that leadership involves symbolism as well as substance. In times of profound need, people need to see their president up close," The Advocate said in an editorial. The newspaper, however, did give credit to the president for quickly responding when the state requested a federal disaster designation for much of its southern areas. Obama granted the designation to 20 of the state's 64 parishes - Louisiana's equivalent to counties and also sent surrogates to monitor and help in the disaster response, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. The White House has clarified that in his visit next week, the president would get "a first-hand look at the impact of the devastating floods and tell the people of Louisiana that the American people will be with them." (AFP)

Donald Tump visits flooded Louisiana, asks Obama to 'get off the golf course and get there'

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US Congressional body to probe Trump's wire-tap claim against Obama

Donald Trump admits US President Obama was born in America

Donald Tump visits flooded Louisiana, asks Obama to 'get off the golf course and get there'