CNN's Jake Tapper tore into President Trump on Friday after Trump defended his administration's wiretapping claims at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Though Trump himself tweeted the baseless claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower during the presidential election — and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer then rehashed the unfounded claims that British spy agency GCHQ was involved — Trump on Friday blamed Fox News for spreading the allegations. "We said nothing. All we did was quote a very talented legal mind," Trump said, referring to former judge Andrew Napolitano, who suggested on Fox News that Obama "used" GCHQ to get intelligence on Trump.
"In a fevered effort to try to force this outlandish claim into something remotely resembling — passably, perhaps, maybe — the truth, the White House appears actually willing to repeat another wild accusation that potentially could alienate our nation's most important ally," Tapper said, referring to Britain. A GCHQ spokesperson on Friday said the allegation repeated by Spicer is "utterly ridiculous."
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