The White House has issued a formal apology to Britain after accusing its intelligence agency, GCHQ, of assisting former president Barack Obama in wiretapping Trump Tower in the weeks after the US election.

The US has agreed not to repeat any such claims after GCHQ denied the allegations, BBC reports. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Theresa May further said it has been made clear to the White House the claims were “ridiculous and should have been ignored.”

An investigation conducted by a Senate committee earlier this week also concluded there were absolutely “no indications” to suggest the government surveilled Trump Tower before or after the election.

GCHQ has similarly downplayed the accusations – voiced by Press Secretary Sean Spicer earlier this week – as “nonsense” and “utterly ridiculous.”

While the allegations initially came from former judge Andrew Napolitano, Spicer repeatedly referred to them in press conferences despite offering no evidence to back up the claims.

“Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command,” the press secretary said. “He didn’t use the NSA, he didn’t use the CIA, he didn’t use the FBI and he didn’t use the Department of Justice, he used GCHQ.”

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