WASHINGTON - Facing a Monday deadline, the Justice Department asked lawmakers for more time to provide evidence backing up President Donald Trump's unproven assertion that his predecessor wiretapped his New York skyscraper during the election. The request came as the White House appeared to soften Trump's explosive allegation.
The House intelligence committee said it would give the Justice Department until March 20 to comply with the evidence request. That's the date of the committee's first open hearing on the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia.
President Trump's first 100 days
- Congress OKs short-term spending bill, averting government shutdown over weekend
- Trump tells NRA: 'You have a true friend' in White House [video]
- Trump: National monuments a 'massive federal land grab'
- Local anti-Trump activists target state GOP elected officials
- Trump administration says Iran complying with nuclear deal
- Trump declares U.S.-Russia relations may be at 'all-time low'
- Gorsuch sworn into Supreme Court, restores conservative tilt
- U.S. strike on Syria is widely hailed, but angers Russia
- U.S. launches missile attack against Syria
- House intelligence committee chair steps aside
- White House says 'reality' changing with regard to Syria
- U.S. vows to uphold Russia sanctions until it respects pledges
- As GOP schism grows, Trump attacks fellow Republicans
- Trump revives threat to change libel laws
- Senate GOP needs Pence to break tie on family planning funds
- Trump administration seeks delay in ruling on climate plan
- Trump vows efforts to fight nation's opioid addiction crisis
- House sends bill to Trump blocking online privacy regulation
- House sends bill to Trump blocking online privacy regulation
- White House eyeing $18 billion list of social program cuts
- Watchdog to examine cost, security of Trump's Florida trips
- White House looks to bounce back after health care loss
- Trump signs legislation rolling back Obama-era regulations
- Trump's border wall with Mexico faces all kinds of obstacles
- Trump attacks conservative lawmakers over health bill
- Trump, GOP leaders pull troubled health care bill off House floor [video]
- Trump OKs Keystone pipeline, calling it 'great day' for jobs
- House GOP leaders delay vote on health care repeal bill
- Big GOP donors spending millions to stop Trump health care bill
- Trump feels 'somewhat' vindicated after Nunes intelligence briefing
- Comey: FBI probing Trump-Russia links, wiretap claims bogus
- GOP leaders propose health bill changes to help older people
- Trump to meet Iraqi premier as anti-IS policy takes shape
- Trump says Dems 'made up' allegations of Russia interference
- While Trump talks tough, U.S. quietly cutting nuclear force
- Trump says Germany owes 'vast sums' to NATO
- House panel gets Justice Department information about Trump's wiretap claim
- Trump would end subsidies for rural airline service
- Trump OKs changes in GOP health care bill, winning support
- President Trump, German Chancellor Merkel talk job training
- Trump's proposed budget features steep cuts to fund military, homeland security and aid veterans
- President Trump defends wiretapping claims at joint news conference with German Chancellor Merkel
- Trump budget cuts could cut $2 million of block grants for Chattanooga
- Trump pledges to fight 'terrible' court ruling blocking latest travel ban order [video]
- President Donald Trump speaks at rally in Nashville [video]
- Trump's first budget boosts military, cuts domestic programs
- Trump arrives at The Hermitage for historic visit to Andrew Jackson's home
- Trump announces challenge to Obama-era fuel standards
- White House meeting on Saudi underscores kingdom's influence
- President Trump to lay wreath at Andrew Jackson's 's tomb at Hermitage in Nashville
- Trump White House sees influence of shadowy 'deep state'
- Busload of local Trump supporters heading for president's Nashville rally
- Trump earned $153 million and paid $36.5 million in taxes in 2005
- 14 million would lose coverage under GOP plan, according to Congressional Budget Office
- Justice Department asks for more time on wiretapping evidence
- House committee wants evidence for Trump's wiretap claim
- Tax credits work differently in 'Obamacare' and GOP plan
- Trump administration dismissing congressional budget experts
- Trump on charm offensive with former rivals
- No more love for WikiLeaks from Trump after CIA hacked
- Trump's promises vs. the Republican plan on health care
- As president, Trump seeks answers on his own wiretap mystery
- New travel ban eases some legal questions but not all
- House GOP releases bill replacing Obama health care overhaul
- Trump tours private school in Florida, promoting choice
- Environmental programs face deep cuts under budget proposal
- Officials: New Trump order drops Iraq from travel ban list
- Trump looks to refocus his presidency in address to Congress
- Trump budget to increase defense spending by $54 billion
- Trump toasts nation's governors ahead of health care talks
- Trump condemns anonymous sources as staff demands anonymity
- White House bars major news outlets from gaggle
- A look at the legal path ahead for the Trump travel ban
- White House expects Justice crackdown on legalized marijuana
- Trump vows to fight 'epidemic' of human trafficking
- Conservatives learn dealing with Trump can be complicated
- Trump administration lifts transgender student bathroom guidance
- Millions targeted for possible deportation under Trump rules
- Trump Month Two: Talks on health care and on tax overhaul
- Trump praises new African American museum during first visit
- Trump denounces anti-Semitism in newly forceful condemnation
- Trump tries to move past controversies, toward legislating
- Revived by rally, Trump turns back to governing
- Outside of Washington, Trump slips back into campaign mode
- Trump gets out of Washington for campaign-style events
- Trump praises his 'fine-tuned machine,' says media dishonest
- Trump ushers in changes in Obamacare, could lead to higher annual deductibles
- A month into presidency, Trump prepares for a campaign rally
- Trump White House wrestles with a crush of crises
- Trump says U.S. will deal with North Korea 'very strongly'
- North Korean missile launch is Trump's latest test
- AP FACT CHECK: Are immigration raids result of Trump policy?
- Trump cites voter fraud in NH without providing evidence
- Trump says he might give travel ban a tweak or a makeover
- Trump responds to ruling on travel ban: 'SEE YOU IN COURT'
- U.S. appeals court refuses to reinstate Trump's ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations
- Trump says media 'doesn't want to report' extremist attacks
- White House expresses confidence travel ban will be restored
- U.S. judge temporarily blocks Trump's travel ban nationwide
- Trump moves to scale back financial regulations
- State Department says fewer than 60,000 visas canceled under Trump's order
- U.S. sanctions target two dozen people and companies in Iran following ballistic missile test
- Trump pledges to end political limits on churches
- Congress scraps Obama rules on coal mining, guns
- Trump tweets that Iran is 'on notice' for firing missiles
- Trump to Mexico: Take care of 'bad hombres' or U.S. might
- Trump praises Douglass, other famous African Americans
- Trump honors fallen Navy SEAL during unannounced trip
- Speaker defends Trump's order, warns of protests
- Local attorneys see widespread confusion over Trump's immigration order
- Trump supporters say they are happy with immigration order
- Veterans protest travel ban, saying it hurts interpreters
- Trump fires acting attorney general over executive order defiance
- White House: Immigration order 'small price' for safety
- Corker, Alexander call Trump's immigration ban 'poorly implemented' and 'confusing'
- Judge grants temporary stay after Trump immigration ban
- Trump's crackdown on refugees, citizens from 7 majority-Muslim countries takes effect
- Trump signs 'new vetting measures' to guard against terror
- Trump wants to slash EPA workforce and budget, official says
- Trump will pay for border wall with 20 percent tax on Mexican imports, spokesman says
- Trump poised to seek new military options for defeating IS
- Trump signals changes to U.S. interrogation, detention policy
- Trump calls for probe into unsubstantiated voter fraud claim
- Draft order would halt refugee processing for Syrians
- Trump intends to announce his Supreme Court pick on Feb. 2
- Trump warns he's ready to 'send in the Feds' to Chicago
- Trump moves to build border wall, cut sanctuary city funds
- EPA contract freeze, media blackout leave states confused
- Trump dogged by insecurity over popular vote, media coverage
- Trump moving forward with border wall, weighs refugee cuts
- Trump expands anti-abortion ban to all U.S. global health aid
- President Trump moves to advance Keystone XL, Dakota Access oil pipelines
- Trump administration places horse 'soring' ban on hold
- Trump tries to streamline manufacturing permits
- Trump moves to pull U.S. out of big Asia trade deal
- White House kicks off first full work day with daily briefing [video]
- Trump freezes new regulations until his administration can review them
- Trump signs first executive order
A spokesman for the committee's Republican chairman said that if the Justice Department doesn't meet the new deadline, the panel might use its subpoena power to gather information.
"If the committee does not receive a response by then, the committee will ask for this information during the March 20 hearing and may resort to a compulsory process if our questions continue to go unanswered," said Jack Langer, a spokesman for Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
Trump's assertions have put his administration in a bind. Current and former administration officials have been unable to provide any evidence of the Obama administration wiretapping Trump Tower, yet the president's aides have been reluctant to publicly contradict their boss.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to clarify Trump's comments Monday, saying the president wasn't using the word wiretapping literally, noting that Trump had put the term in quotation marks.
"The president used the word wiretap in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities," Spicer said. He also suggested Trump wasn't accusing former President Barack Obama specifically, but instead referring to the actions of the Obama administration.
Trump himself has not commented on the matter since his March 4 tweets, in which he said he had "just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory." He also wrote: "Is it legal for a sitting President to be 'wire tapping' a race for president?"
In two other tweets, Trump described Obama tapping his phones, but did not put the phrases in quotation marks.
The president's accusations against Obama came amid numerous political questions surrounding his associates' possible ties to Russia. The FBI is investigating Trump associates' contacts with Russia during the election, as are House and Senate intelligence committees.
The White House has asked those committees to also investigate Trump's unverified wiretapping allegations against Obama. The House committee has turned the matter back on the Trump administration, setting the Monday deadline for the Justice Department to provide evidence.
In a response Monday evening, the Justice Department said it needed extra time to "review the request in compliance with the governing legal authorities and to determine what if any responsive documents may exist."
Other congressional committees are also pushing the administration to clarify Trump's claims.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente and FBI Director James Comey to produce the paper trail created when the Justice Department's criminal division secures warrants for wiretaps. The senators, who head the Senate Judiciary Committee's crime and terrorism subcommittee, are seeking warrant applications and court orders, which they said can be scrubbed to protect secret intelligence sources and methods.
Trump's critics have slammed the president for making the wiretapping claim on his Twitter account without evidence. Wiretapping a U.S. citizen would require special permission from a court, and Trump as president would have the ability to declassify that information.
Sen. John McCain, an influential Republican, said Sunday: "I think the president has one of two choices: either retract or to provide the information that the American people deserve."
"If his predecessor violated the law, President Obama violated the law, we have got a serious issue here, to say the least," McCain said.
Comey has privately urged the Justice Department to dispute Trump's claim but has not come forward to do so himself. James Clapper, who was Obama's director of national intelligence, has said that nothing matching Trump's claims had taken place.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway sidestepped questions about the lack of proof Monday, saying she was "not in the job of having evidence."
"That's what investigations are for," Conway told CNN's "New Day." "The president is pleased that the House and Senate intelligence committees have agreed that this should be part of the investigation that already exists about Russia and the campaign, an investigation that apparently has gone nowhere so far."
In a weekend interview with the Bergen Record, a newspaper in her home state of New Jersey, Conway appeared to point toward the recent WikiLeaks release of nearly 8,000 documents that purportedly reveal secrets about the CIA's tools for breaking into targeted computers, cellphones and even smart TVs.
"What I can say is there are many ways to surveil each other now, unfortunately," including "microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera," Conway said. "So we know that that is just a fact of modern life."