Britain’s GCHQ Denies ‘Ridiculous’ Claim It Helped Wiretap Trump
LONDON — British spy agency GCHQ has issued a rare and angry denial of a "ridiculous" allegation, repeated by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, that it eavesdropped on President Donald Trump during the election campaign.
The signal intelligence agency went public after Spicer quoted a Fox New analyst to support Trump's so-far-unfounded claim that he was wiretapped by President Barack Obama.
A British government official went further, saying Friday that White House had promised not to repeat the claim — further undermining Trump's insistence that he is correct.
In a testy press briefing Thursday, Spicer cited former New Jersey judge Andrew Napolitano, who alleged on Fox News that Obama "went outside the chain of command" and used the British agency so that there were "no American fingerprints" on surveillance of Trump.
Spicer said it was one of many reports that suggest the president's claims "merit looking into."
It brought a swift, highly unusual and furious public response from GCHQ, which is broadly similar to America's NSA and monitors global communications.
"Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then president-elect are nonsense," the agency said in a statement. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."
Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman told reporters that the UK government had "made clear" to the White House that the GCHQ claims should be ignored and had received assurances in return that they will not be repeated.