Top Republicans in the US Congress say they have found no evidence to support President Trump's claim that he was bugged in Trump Tower on the orders of President Barack Obama
Mr. Trump made the unsubstantiated allegations ten days ago on Twitter, and he urged Congress to investigate them.
Now the head of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee says he cannot find any evidence to support the President's contention.
Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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The allegations were a bombshell when Donald Trump Tweeted them out in the middle of what was supposed to be a weekend of rest and relaxation at his Mar A Lago resort in Florida.
"Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower" he wrote, going on to call his predecessor a "bad or sick guy".
Since then, Republicans - at the urgings of the White House - have been trying to support the President's claims with evidence.
But loyal Republican Congressman Devon Nunes had to concede to reporters on Wednesday that try as he might….he hasn't been able to find any.
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The Congressman heads the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
You could almost hear the strain he's been under after the White House sent him on what now appears to have been a wild goose chase.
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That will come as an enormous disappointment to the President.
It was only on Tuesday here that his spokesman Sean Spicer said President Trump was "extremely confident" evidence would be found proving that he was under surveillance last year.
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Vindication, though, is proving elusive….and there are some Republicans so angered by what they see as the President's irresponsible claims, that they are determined to disprove them.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sees himself as a defender of old-style Republican values here….and in a letter to the FBI Director he insisted that the country's intelligence agencies come clean.
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Under a threat of a subpoena that could force him to testify, the FBI Director James Comey has now agreed to make an appearance next week on Capitol Hill.
His revelations are unlikely to back up President Trump's claim….at least according to the President's own Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
He was asked if he'd seen any evidence to support the wiretapping allegation.
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So President Trump finds himself boxed into a corner.
Things could be worse though: if it turns out he WAS under surveillance, the intelligence agencies would have had to prove "probable cause" for their investigation….perhaps the existence of hard-and-fast evidence tying the Trump team to the Russians.
If the President's Tweets are true….he could be in even bigger trouble than if they prove to be false.
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