House Intelligence Committee says they have seen no evidence supporting Trump’s wiretapping claims

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence Committee say they have seen no evidence supporting President Donald Trump’s claim that the Obama administration wiretapped him last year.

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff say they’re still waiting for evidence from the Justice Department backing up that claim. Schiff says he and Nunes are willing to take steps to compel the department to comply with their request if it refuses by the March 20 deadline they’ve given the Justice Department.

Nunes, the committee chairman, says he doesn’t believe there was “an actual tap of Trump Tower” in New York.

Nunes also says the committee is tussling with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence over whether the committee will be allowed to have the computer technology needed to go through CIA evidence about Russia’s interference in the election.

The leaders say FBI Director James Comey and the head of the National Security Agency will testify at a public hearing on March 20.

READ MORE: Trump enlists Congress, ex-intel chief denies wiretapping

The leaders of the committee are also raising concerns about the disclosure of names of American citizens whose communications were caught up in U.S. surveillance of foreign agents.

Nunes and Schiff say they’re sending a letter to Comey, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers. They say they’re asking for the total number of Americans whose names were mentioned.

The lawmakers appear to be referring to former White House national security adviser Mike Flynn and potentially other associates of President Donald Trump. Conversations between Flynn and Russia’s ambassador before inauguration were picked up by U.S. intelligence and later disclosed.

Identities of Americans who show up in U.S. surveillance against foreign entities are supposed to stay concealed.