President Donald Trump does not believe FBI director James Comey's denial, through senior officials, that Barack Obama ordered a wiretap on Trump Tower prior to the election, a White House official said Monday.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC News Trump 'firmly believes' that the wiretapping allegations that they say have been 'reported pretty widely' should be looked at by Congress.

The White House is claiming that reports from the New York Times, BBC and Fox News back up the explosive charges against the previous president, even though there's no such evidence as Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos today pointed out.

Sanders insisted, 'It does back up the fact that the administration was wiretapping American citizens.

'There was wide reporting suggesting that his administration, whether it was directly ordered by this president specifically, his administration could have done this.'

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Donald Trump was at his desk in the Oval Office Monday, signing a new exectuive order on his travel ban, amid the growing controversy surrounding his tweets accusing Obama of tapping his phones prior to the election. He has a day full of meetings that are closed off to press

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday morning that Trump 'firmly believes' that the wiretapping allegations that they say have been 'reported pretty widely' should be looked at by Congress

Kellyanne Conway challenged FBI director James Comey on Sunday night to reveal what he knows about Trump's allegations that Obama wiretapped his phones prior to the election

The reports she mentioned appear not to have confirmed the existence of the wiretap, but reported Trump's tweets which first raised the issue.

Sanders also said Trump doesn't necessarily believe that Comey called on the Justice Department to publicly refute the president's wiretapping claims in the first place. She argued that the president has not seen a 'firm denial from the FBI.'

The Trump spokeswoman could not say whether the president had called Comey himself to ask him about the possibility that the agency was spying on him.

She suggested that it would be improper, and that is why the president has requested that the House Intelligence Committee probe the matter.

'From my understanding,' shes said, 'there is a process that this has to follow.'

Sanders clashed repeatedly with Stephanopolous, who cut her off repeatedly - and said later, to DailyMail.com, that she misheard his first question, leading to claim that the president doesn't believe Comey.

Stephanopolous attacked in the interview her for claiming reports from the New York Times and others backed up the president, when they simply did not.

He said that only one report suggested there had been a court-ordered wiretap - which would not have been illegal.

After the shocking allegation of wiretapping that Trump compared to the Watergate scandal on Saturday, presidential aide Kellyanne Conway challenged Comey to reveal what he knows about the president's claims.

Conway last night demanded that Comey speak on the record if he wants to discredit the charges, although she could not confirm in the interview, on Fox News, that Trump knew for sure that the allegation is true.

Sanders had the same problem in a Sunday morning interview on ABC News. This Week host Martha Raddatz challenged her to back up the president's previous claim that the wiretapping definitely happened.

'You keep saying, if, if, if. The president of the United States said it was a fact,' said Raddatz.

A spokesman for Obama (pictured in Washington on Sunday) denied Trump's allegation as 'simply false' on Saturday afternoon

Comey has said, according to a New York Times report that cited senior U.S. officials, that Trump's claim is false and it should be corrected.

'If Mr. Comey has something he'd like to say I'm sure we're all willing to hear it,' Conway told Fox News Channel's Jeanine Pirro on Sunday night.

'All I saw was a published news report, I didn't see a statement from him so I don't know what Mr. Comey knows,' the president's counselor said. 'If he knows, of course he can issue a statement... we know he's not shy.'

Appearing on ABC this morning, Sanders likewise said of the president, 'I don't know that he has gotten a firm denial from the FBI.'

Asked if the president accepts reporting that says Comey did deny it, Sanders said, 'The president wants the truth to come out to the American people and he is asking that it be done through the House Intelligence Committee and that that be the process that we go through.'

Stephanopoulos had asked her point blank at the beginning of the interview if Trump believes Comey, assuming with his question that the information in the New York Times article revealing the FBI director's position was based on facts.

'You know, I don't think he does, George,' Sanders said. 'I think he firmly believes that this is a story line that has been reported pretty widely, by quite a few outlets...and we believe that it should be looked at by the House Intelligence committee.'

She told DailyMail.com later in the day that she thought he was asking about the president's trust in reports that revealed Comey's stance, not his trust in his FBI director.

The Justice Department has not issued a statement that refutes Trump's assertion. The FBI also declined to comment.

According to the Times, Comey wants the Trump claim rejected publicly because it insinuates falsely that the FBI broke the law.

Conway was on Sunday asked by Pirro if Trump definitely knew he had been wiretapped. She only responded, 'He may'.

Monday on ABC, Stephanopoulos told Sanders 'it is not a fact that this has been done. You do not know that it is a fact that this has been done.'

He confronted her with denials from Comey, Obama, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Is the president calling all three liars, he wanted to know.

'Not at all. He's asking that we allow the House Intelligence Committee to do its job.'

Continuing, Sanders said, 'It's very interesting, George, how when this past president says its false, everybody's like, "Oh, well, obviously it is." But when we've been saying it for the past 6 months, nobody believes it.

'Frankly, George, I think if the president walked across the Potomac the media would report that he can't swim.'

Christopher Ruddy - the CEO of conservative news site Newsmax - indicated in a column that Trump doesn't believe Obama.

Ruddy says he spoke to Trump on the golf course at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida over the weekend and had never seen him so furious.

'I spoke with the president twice yesterday [Saturday] about the wiretap story. I haven't seen him this p***ed off in a long time,' Trump's friend wrote in a Newsmax column publish Sunday.

'When I mentioned Obama "denials" about the wiretaps, he shot back: "This will be investigated, it will all come out. I will be proven right,"' Ruddy said.

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump step off Air Force One with their children after returning from Florida on Sunday

Both the Senate and the House intelligence committees now look set to broaden the scope of their inquiries into Russian meddling in the 2016 election to include the President's claims about Obama.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, said in a statement that the panel 'will follow the evidence where it leads, and we will continue to be guided by the intelligence and facts as we compile our findings'.

Rep. Devin Nunes, the California Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the committee 'will make inquiries into whether the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political party's campaign officials or surrogates'.

Trump, who returned to Washington on Sunday from a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, has not personally commented in public on the allegations since he launched a Twitter tirade early Saturday.

The president has no open access events on Monday, which means journalists won't have an opportunity to press him directly for answers. His press secretary will take questions from the press - but will hold the daily briefing off-camera, as he has for the past week.

Trump launched a Twitter tirade early Saturday accusing Obama of tapping his phones at Trump Tower prior to the election

Trump has not provided any evidence to support his claims

Trump arrived back at the White House on Sunday after the FBI director raised concerns the president's claims created the impression that the FBI acted improperly

TRUMP'S EXPLOSIVE WEEKEND: Friday: Trump had a heated meeting with Steve Bannon in Oval Office in the afternoon before leaving for Mar-a-Lago. Saturday - 6.30am: Trump fired off a series of tweets accusing Obama of spying on him during election campaign. Saturday afternoon: Obama's spokesman denied claims he ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower. FBI Director James Comey reportedly asked Justice Department to publicly refute Trump's claims. Sunday morning: White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump Trump had called on Congress to investigate. Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders would not say where Trump got his information during ABC interview. Former intelligence director James Clapper told NBC he 'absolutely denies' Trump's claim of wiretapping. Sunday afternoon: Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Devin Nunes issued statement saying they will probe allegations. Sunday night: Trump arrived back at the White House following his weekend at Mar-a-Lago. Kellyanne Conway called on FBI director to issue a statement on what he knows about Trump's claims during an interview with Fox's Jeanine Pirro. Advertisement

Trump on Saturday accused the former president of spying on him before the election, tweeting he had 'just found out' he had been wiretapped. It was unclear from Trump's tweets exactly how he found out.

'Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!' he 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!'

In another tweet Trump posed the question: 'Is it legal for a sitting President to be 'wire tapping' a race for president prior to an election?'

Trump's aides were scrambling on Sunday to limit the political fallout of his accusation 24 hours after it was made - admitting it was still unproven and calling on Congress to investigate.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Sunday Trump was calling on Congress to 'determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.'

Sanders echoed those comments and refused to assert that the president had provided correct information.

Without being specific, Sanders said on ABC's This Week: '(Trump is) going off information that he's seen that have led him to believe that.

'And if it is, this is the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power that I think we've ever seen and a huge attack on democracy itself.'

Christopher Ruddy (above) - CEO of Newsmax - revealed he spoke to Trump on the golf course at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend, saying he had never seen him so furious

Trump accused Barack Obama of wire-tapping his phones at Trump Tower in New York before the election last year

Trump, who returned to Washington on Sunday (above), has not publicly commented on the allegations since he launched a Twitter tirade early Saturday

Trump's claims seem to have stemmed from a Thursday evening radio show hosted by Mark Levin that claimed Obama executed a 'silent coup' of Trump via 'police state' tactics, according to Breitbart News.

In June last year, the Obama administration filed a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to monitor communications involving Trump and several advisers but the request was denied, according to multiple reports at the time.

Some media outlets say a follow-up request, narrower in scope was made in October, approved and led to an investigation, however this has not been verified.

According to those claims, the new FISA request was focused on a Trump computer server alleging possible links with Russian banks. Some claim the server was based in Trump Tower.

Clapper denied that this was the case over the weekend. Asked if there was a FISA court order to monitor Trump Tower he said: 'Not to my knowledge'.

Trump spoke as recently as last month about how much he likes Obama and how much they get along, despite their differences.

A strikingly personal attack on the former president, Obama's current and former spokesman have said Trump's claims that he was wiretapped at the former president's direction are not true.

Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis released a statement Saturday afternoon refuting Trump's claims that any monitoring was ordered by the White House.

'A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice,' Lewis said.

'As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.'

White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon (left) and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner (right) walk past the Oval Office on their return to the White House on Sunday

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was calling on Congress to investigate

Obama's former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told NBC's Chuck Todd he 'absolutely denies' Trump's claim of wiretapping

U.S. presidents cannot legally order such wiretaps because they require the approval of a federal judge and reasonable grounds for suspicion.

Sanders argued on Monday that the origin of a request - if there was one - doesn't matter. Obama should be held responsible for the actions of his entire administration.

'Look, it would have been under this administration, George. You don't get to just wash your hands of something,' she claimed, 'whether it's the Justice Department, under which you control, which would have fallen under this administration, and under this past president.'

Clapper told NBC's Chuck Todd he 'absolutely denies' Trump's claim that wiretapping occurred in the first place.

DID OBAMA ORDER THE WIRETAPPING ON TRUMP TOWER? President Trump claimed in a series of tweets that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower back in October, early Saturday morning. The Obama administration quickly denied Trump's allegations that the former president had ordered a wiretap on the New York building on Saturday. A statement put forth by his team said: 'A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. 'As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen.' However, most glaringly, the statement did not deny allegations that there was a wiretap. It simply said Obama never ordered one on Trump. This means that another federal agency may have sought authorization to listen in on Trump Tower and received it. Advertisement

'For the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as director of national intelligence, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign,' he said.

Trump's controversial tweets prompted a slew of responses from Democratic leaders and pundits knocking down the claims.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi likened it to autocratic behavior.

'It's called a wrap-up smear. You make up something. Then you have the press write about it. And then you say, everybody is writing about this charge. It's a tool of an authoritarian,' Pelosi said.

Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser to Obama, blasted Trump's accusations on Twitter: 'No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you.'

Rhodes shot back at another Trump tweet saying: 'Dear Pundits who lauded his speech. Is it still 'presidential' to call your dignified predecessor 'Bad (or sick) guy!'

Josh Earnest, who was Obama's final press secretary while he was in office, said presidents do not have authority to unilaterally order the wiretapping of American citizens, as Trump has alleged was done to him. FBI investigators and Justice Department officials must seek a federal judge's approval for such a step.

Trump waved as he stepped off Air Force One in Maryland on Sunday afternoon

Earnest accused Trump of leveling the allegations to distract from the attention that's being given to campaign-season contacts between Trump aides and allies and a Russian official, including campaign surrogate Jeff Sessions before he resigned from the Senate to become attorney general.

Trump's hit on Obama came at the end of another week in which his administration was battered by controversy over links between his advisors and Russian officials.

He was said to be furious that good reviews of his maiden speech to Congress on Tuesday night were overrun by revelations about aides' meetings with Russian officials.

The president was also said to be angry that Attorney General Sessions recused himself from any campaign or Russia-related investigations.