AP Photo Pelosi: Comey should publicly reject Trump wiretapping claims

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday that FBI Director James Comey should publicly disavow President Donald Trump’s claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped his campaign headquarters.

“Theoretically, do I think that a director of the FBI who knows for a fact that something is mythology but misleading to the American people and he should set the record straight?” Pelosi said, responding to a question at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast forum. “Yes, I do think he should say that publicly.”


Pelosi treaded gingerly around the topic of Russia's alleged connections to Trump’s associates, emphasizing that she couldn’t disclose information she’d learned in classified briefings.

“Maybe in a short period of time much more will be in the public domain,” she said.

Pelosi reiterated her call for an independent commission to investigate Russia's meddling in the 2016 election in support of Trump’s campaign and whether Trump associates colluded with them.

In a brief interview with CNN, fellow California Democrat Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, suggested that Comey should be prepared to clear up the wiretapping allegation when he testifies before the House panel on March 20.

“I don’t see any reason why he can’t answer it,” Schiff said. “He may even welcome the opportunity.”

Nolan D. McCaskill contributed to this report.