Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the campaign over the weekend, and now Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., are asking the Justice Department to prove it.

The bipartisan pair — who are chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism — sent a letter Wednesday to the FBI director and the acting deputy attorney general asking for specific information regarding the accusation. Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente is in charge of the Russia probe because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself last week from any investigation involving Russia and the Trump campaign.

“We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders — redacted as necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods that may be compromised by disclosure, and to protect any ongoing investigations — related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower,” wrote Graham and Whitehouse. “We will be glad to review any such applications and orders once they are disclosed, and proceed as appropriate with the oversight the President has requested.”

FBI Director James Comey has said Obama did not authorize any wiretaps and has asked the Justice Department to publicly refute Trump's accusations, a U.S. official confirmed Sunday to USA TODAY. Kevin Lewis, Obama's spokesman, has called the accusations “simply false.”

But the White House has said Trump doesn’t accept Comey’s denial and has called for an investigation into the allegations. It would be illegal for the president to authorize a wiretap.

“As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, we would take any abuse of wiretapping authorities for political purposes very seriously. We would be equally alarmed to learn that a court found enough evidence of criminal activity or contact with a foreign power to legally authorize a wiretap of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower,” states the letter from Graham and Whitehouse.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” Trump tweeted early Saturday morning and kept going with the accusation:

Read more:

Fact check: Examining Trump’s wiretap claim

Trump, without evidence, accuses Obama of wiretapping him; 'Simply false,' Obama spokesman says

Trump doesn't necessarily believe Comey, aide says