Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and other Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to FBI Director James Comey requesting a briefing on wiretap claims and why information keeps leaking. | Getty Republicans want Comey briefing on Trump's wiretap claim

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are asking FBI Director James Comey for a briefing on President Donald Trump’s claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in the run-up to the presidential election.

In a letter to Comey Wednesday, the Republican members of the panel also are asking to be briefed on why sensitive information about government investigations and surveillance keeps being leaked to the news media.


The Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), has jurisdiction over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to seek warrants to wiretap suspected foreign agents inside the United States.

“We again request a briefing regarding Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election, and additionally, on the very serious allegations that the President and/or his associates were or are under surveillance,” the letter states. “These briefings must also, necessarily, address why information on any of these matters — which is presumably classified — continues to leak.”

Meanwhile, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent their own letter to Comey on Wednesday requesting information on Trump’s wiretapping claims.

“We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders ... related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower,” wrote Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I. ), the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terrorism.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper later cast doubt on the allegation, saying on NBC's "Meet the Press," "I can deny" the existence of a court order allowing the FBI to wiretap Trump Tower.