Britain's GCHQ calls allegations it wiretapped Trump 'nonsense' and 'utterly ridiculous'

(Image credit: WPA Pool/Getty Images)

published 17 March 2017

The British intelligence and security agency GCHQ is adamantly denying claims that it wiretapped President Trump before the election.

The allegations were first made by former judge Andrew Napolitano on Fox News, and in Thursday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer quoted him as saying: "Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI, and he didn't use the Department of Justice, he used GCHQ."

A GCHQ spokesman called these claims "nonsense" and "utterly ridiculous," adding that they "should be ignored." The GCHQ normally does not comment on intelligence work, following its policy of neither confirming nor denying activity, BBC News says, but this is such a sensitive subject that the agency felt it was necessary to respond publicly. Trump has alleged that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower before the presidential election, but has yet to produce any evidence backing up his claims. The Senate Intelligence Committee declared Thursday that there are "no indications" this ever happened.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.