FBI Director James Comey has reportedly asked the Justice Department to publicly rebut President Donald Trump’s claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones before the election.. | AP Photo Comey briefs Hill leaders amid outcry over Trump's wiretapping claim

FBI Director James Comey briefed congressional leaders Thursday on Capitol Hill amid an outcry over President Donald Trump’s claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in the runup to the election.

Comey is briefing members of the so-called Gang of Eight, the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, plus the chairmen and ranking members on both chambers’ intelligence committees. These eight lawmakers are periodically updated on the nation’s most sensitive intelligence matters, including counterintelligence investigations on U.S. citizens.


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) both declined to comment as they left their meeting with Comey on Thursday afternoon. The FBI director is set to meet later Thursday with the four House members of the Gang of Eight.

Comey has reportedly asked the Justice Department to issue a statement rebutting Trump’s wiretapping claims, something the department has not done. A spokesman for Obama has denounced Trump's Twitter statement as "simply false."

His briefing with lawmakers also comes as the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee are questioning whether the intelligence community has been as forthcoming as it should be with the Gang of Eight about counterintelligence investigations.

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told reporters earlier this week that while news reports cited intelligence agencies' scrutiny of contacts between Trump campaign members and Russian officials, the committee was never made aware of such investigations.

“If Trump or any other political campaign, anybody associated with Trump, was under some kind of investigation, that clearly should have risen to the Gang of Eight level,” Nunes said. “Clearly we have some questions about whether or not last year we were read into everything that we should have been read into.”

