Donald Trump has accused Barack Obama of tapping his telephones at Trump Tower in October, before he was elected US president.

Mr Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets at about 6.30am (11.30am GMT) Saturday morning accusing the former president of using wire taps to spy on him at his New York base.

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

He president compared the alleged surveillance to Watergate, the 1970s scandal that brought down president Richard Nixon: "How low has President Obama gone to tapp (SIC) my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" </s> President Donald Trump is accusing former President Barack Obama of having Trump's telephones "wire tapped" during last year's election, but Trump isn't offering any evidence or saying what prompted the allegation. Trump says in a series of tweets that he "just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower."

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Plain Dealer. </s> The Justice Department said in a court filing that it has no evidence to support President Donald Trump's assertion in March that his predecessor Barack Obama, wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower before last year's presidential election.

"Both FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the NSD (National Security Division) confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017, tweets," the department's motion said on Saturday.

The motion came in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by a group pushing for government transparency, American Oversight, reports CNN.

On March 4, Trump tweeted: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

 

 "How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process," Trump also tweeted. "This is Nixon/Watergate."

Former FBI Director James Comey told the Congress in March there was no evidence to support the contention that Trump Tower had been wiretapped.

American Oversight said in a statement following the Justice Department's motion: "The FBI and Department of Justice have now sided with former Director Comey and confirmed in writing that President Trump lied when he tweeted the former President Obama 'wiretapped' him at Trump Tower," reports CNN.

The Justice Department also said in the motion that along with the FBI, it does "not confirm or deny the existence" of any other records that are responsive to the group's request, which was broader than the alleged wiretaps of Trump Tower.

The disclosure of the existence or non-existence of other responsive records "would cause harm to national security" and is therefore exempted under the law, the motion said. </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes says President Donald Trump’s allegations that President Barack Obama’s administration wiretapped Trump Tower last year will become part of his panel’s investigation.

President Trump has offered no evidence or details to support his claim, and President Obama’s spokesman has denied it.

The California Republican says in a statement his committee “will make inquiries into whether the government was conducting surveillance activities on any political party’s campaign officials or surrogates.”

The committee was already investigating Russian interference in the presidential election.

Without offering evidence, President Trump claimed in a series of Saturday, March 4th tweets that former President Barack Obama had telephones at Trump Tower wiretapped. </s> (CNN) The Justice Department said in a court filing Friday evening that it has no evidence to support President Donald Trump's assertion in March that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower before last year's election.

"Both FBI and NSD confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets," the department's motion reads. NSD refers to the department's national security division.

The motion came in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by a group pushing for government transparency, American Oversight.

On March 4, Trump tweeted: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

"How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process," Trump also tweeted. "This is Nixon/Watergate."

Read More </s> Donald Trump is accusing former President Barack Obama and his administration of wiretapping his Manhattan home and office before the November 2016 elections. </s> The US justice department has said it has no information about wiretaps that President Donald Trump claimed had been made of Trump Tower in New York.

The department's national security division and the FBI "confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by" Mr Trump's March tweets.

In those tweets, Mr Trump alleged President Barack Obama "had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower" before the election. He made similar assertions in several other tweets.

The FBI's director at the time, James Comey, had said there was no evidence of a wiretap at Trump Tower.

The justice department reiterated that point in its motion for summary judgment in a case brought by open government advocacy group American Oversight.

The group is seeking proof of Mr Trump's unsubstantiated claims. </s> A spokesman for Barack Obama has rejected claims from US President Donald Trump that the former president had wiretapped him in October during the late stages of the presidential election campaign.

"Neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement on Saturday.

Trump had suggested Obama had improperly tapped his phones, without citing evidence, in a series of tweets on Saturday morning.

"How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!," Trump said in a series of tweets.

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

"I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!"

Lewis also said that "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."

The statement raised the possibility that a wiretap of the Trump campaign could have been ordered by Justice Department officials.

The White House did not respond to a request to elaborate on Trump's accusations.

A Trump spokeswoman said the Republican president is "having meetings, making phone calls and hitting balls" at his golf course in West Palm Beach.

Earlier, former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes strongly denied Trump's allegations.

"No president can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you," Rhodes wrote on Twitter.

In one of the Tweets, Trump said the alleged wiretapping took place in his Trump Tower office and apartment building in New York, but there was "nothing found."

Trump's administration has come under pressure from Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional investigations into contacts between some members of his campaign team and Russian officials during his campaign.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi ridiculed Trump's assertions. "The Deflector-in-Chief is at it again. An investigation by an independent commission is the only answer," she wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Under US law, a federal court would have to have found probable cause that the target of the surveillance is an "agent of a foreign power" in order to approve a warrant authorising electronic surveillance of Trump Tower. </s> The Department of Justice said in a court filing Friday it has no evidence that former President Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower, despite President Trump’s assertions.

The statement was made in a Friday court filing related to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by American Oversight, a liberal watchdog organization founded by former Obama administration officials.

“Both the FBI and NSD confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described the March 4, 2017 tweets,” the DOJ wrote in the court filing, posted online by American Oversight.

In March, the president accused the former president of secretly wiretapping the building in New York City where he lived and worked.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory,” the president tweeted. “Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”

Spokesman Kevin Lewis said in March "neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."

During a congressional hearing in March, then-FBI director James Comey said he knew of no evidence Trump Tower was wiretapped.

"With respect to the president’s tweets," Comey said, "I have no information that supports those tweets. We have looked carefully inside the FBI."

In its filing on Friday, the DOJ said the FBI confirmed it didn’t have such records “by consulting with personnel knowledgeable about Director Comey’s statements and the surveillance activities of the FBI.”

Citing the filing, the liberal organization accused the president of lying.

“The FBI and Department of Justice have now sided with former Director Comey and confirmed in writing that President Trump lied when he tweeted that former President Obama ‘wiretapped’ him at Trump Tower,” American Oversight executive director Austin Evers said in a statement.

FORMER OBAMA STAFFERS LAUNCH TRUMP WATCHDOG GROUP, ENCOURAGE INSIDERS TO REPORT WASTE AND FRAUD

In March, House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said members of the intelligence community "incidentally collected" communications from the Trump transition team during legal surveillance operations of foreign targets.

But Nunes said he was unsure whether the surveillance occurred at Trump Tower -- as the president has suggested.

Trump reacted by saying he felt “somewhat” vindicated by Nunes’ comments.
U.S. President Donald Trump accuses former President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower the month before the 2016 presidential election but offers no evidence to support his claim. A spokesman for President Obama rejects these claims.