Schiff: Trump's wiretap claim will soon be debunked

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Friday he’s seen no evidence to support President Donald Trump’s claim that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, and expects it will soon be debunked.

Rep. Adam Schiff, whose committee is investigating Russia’s meddling in the presidential election, told POLITICO he hasn’t “seen any evidence whatsoever” for Trump’s claims.


Schiff’s remarks come a day after he and other senior lawmakers met with FBI Director James Comey to discuss sensitive intelligence issues behind closed doors.

Schiff declined to comment on what was discussed during the meeting.

But the California congressman indicated that he expected administration officials to publicly debunk Trump’s wiretapping claims in an open hearing scheduled for March 20. The Intelligence Committee has invited current and former officials, including Comey, to testify on Russia’s election interference.

“I think on March 20, we'll have the opportunity to put this to rest once and for all when we have the agency heads come in,” Schiff said.

The Intelligence panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), said on CNN on Friday that he was waiting to get evidence back from the intelligence community on the issue. He said he was “anxious to know” whether there were any requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct surveillance on Americans during the campaign.

“We are very interested in looking into anything to do with FISA, especially FISA on any Americans,” Nunes said. “But we are waiting to get information back. I am anxious to know any Americans that were either unmasked or if there were any FISA requests that went in.”