FBI Director James Comey delivered an implicit rebuke to President Donald Trump, saying that he had "No information" to support claims by Trump that he was wiretapped on the orders of predecessor Barack Obama.
In a dramatic hearing before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a clear preference for whom he wanted to see as the next US President -- and it was not Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The White House launched a political offensive even as the hearing continued. Spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump would not apologize to Obama for the wiretapping accusations, adding that questions remain about possible surveillance.
Spicer also incorrectly diminished the role of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Comey publicly confirmed for the first time that his agency is investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Republicans tried to focus the hearing on leaks that led to the resignation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee sent a message of unity at his confirmation hearing despite the fraught atmosphere surrounding his nomination.
Monday was the first day of four hearings for Neil Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge from Colorado likely to carry on the conservative legacy of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
The hearing was a setting for Democrats to revisit their feelings about the snub last year of Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland.
Gorsuch will face questions from senators Tuesday. But the real drama will play out behind the scenes. Ref. CNN.
What is the point of the long hours of this meeting when most of the answers are "I cannot comment on that because its classified" or "I cannot say because I cannot talk about specific individuals" or "I cannot confirm not deny."
International Level: Specialist / Political Participation: 40 4%
When they start talking in that type of language you know they are covering something up. It then becomes more of a fact that yes maybe they did do something they do not want the general public to know about. I find all of this interesting and the more some of the house intelligence committee talks the more I see how unintelligent some of them are proving to be.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says Chairman Devin Nunes' announcement that Trump's communications may have been collected throws "Great doubt into the ability of both the chairman and the committee to conduct the investigation the way it ought to be conducted.”
"If the chairman is going to continue to go to the White House instead of his own committee, there is no way we can continue to conduct this investigation," Rep. Adam Schiff said.
Nunes said Wednesday that Trump's personal communications and those of associates may have been picked up by intelligence agencies conducting surveillance of foreign targets after the election.
The conversations were "Incidentally" collected as part of intelligence sweeps focusing on other people, Nunes said, and implied that Trump was not the target of the surveillance operation. Ref. CNN.
So now after hearing a few explanations I think President Trump may actually be right. Okay, he completely misstated by saying he was bugged, but it sure sounds like something was up. And the fact that intelligence collected against a US citizen was leaked to the press makes it a crime.