Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/800733
ByJuliePace The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Fri- day stood by his unproven claim that his predecessor wiretapped his phones, sug- gesting he was the victim of the same sort of surveil- lance the Obama adminis- tration was once alleged to have used to monitor Ger- man Chancellor Angela Merkel's calls. "At least we have some- thing in common, per- haps," Trump said during a joint news conference with Merkel. Merkel, who was making her first visit to the White House since Trump took office, did not weigh in on the 2013 incident, which an- gered many in Germany. Trump's allegations against President Barack Obama have sparked a re- actions ranging from baf- flement to anger in Wash- ington, with both Dem- ocrats and Republican lawmakers saying they have no evidence to sup- port his claim. But the White House's refusal to back down has created more problems for the new administration. On Thursday, spokesman Sean Spicer defended the president's comments by repeating a Fox News an- alyst's report that GCHQ, the British electronic intel- ligence agency, had helped Obama wiretap Trump. The agency vigorously de- nied the charge and Brit- ain's ambassador to Wash- ington, Kim Darroch, com- plained directly to White House officials. Trump tried to distance himself from the report Fri- day. "All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one re- sponsible for saying that on television," Trump said, re- ferring to analyst Andrew Napolitano. "You shouldn't be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox." The British government said the White House has promised it won't repeat the allegation. Spicer, speaking with reporters following Trump's news conference, said: "I don't think we re- gret anything." A White House official confirmed that Darroch and the prime minister's national security adviser, Mark Lyall Grant, expressed concerns to both Spicer and Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. Mc- Master. Spicer and McMas- ter both said that Spicer was simply pointing to pub- lic reports and not endors- ing any specific story, the of- ficial said. The diplomat and White House official both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversa- tions. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said Friday that the British government made it clear to Spicer that the "ridiculous" claims should be ignored. "We have a close, spe- cial relationship with the White House and that al- lows us to raise concerns as and when they arise as was true in this case," said May spokesman James Slack. "We have made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and that they should be ig- nored and we have received assurances that these alle- gations won't be repeated," he told reporters at a regu- lar briefing on Friday. Trump tweeted earlier this month that Obama "was tapping my phones in October" and compared the incident to "Nixon/Water- gate" and "McCarthyism." The claim is prompting growing bipartisan agree- ment that there's no evi- dence to back up the claim andmountingpressuretore- tractthestatement.TheSen- ate Select Committee on In- telligence weighed in Thurs- day, finding "no indications" that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance. Republicans in Congress also said Trump should re- tract his claims. Rep. Char- lie Dent, R-Pa., called the accusation against Britain "inexplicable" and the ac- cusation against Obama unfounded. "A president only has so much political capital to expend and so much moral authority as well, and so any time your credibility takes a hit, I think in many ways it weakens the office- holder," Dent said. Slack would not say whether Spicer or any other American officials apol- ogized, noting, "we have received assurances that these allegations won't be repeated and this shows the administration doesn't give the allegations any cre- dence." ALLEGATION Tr um p st an ds b y hi s cl ai m Obama tapped his phones ANDREWHARNIK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS President Donald Trump, joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, le , speaks during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Friday. By Cathy Bussewitz The Associated Press HONOLULU Lawmakersin nearly half the states want to add a requirement for presidential candidates: Show us your tax returns. The issue has dogged President Donald Trump, who became the first pres- idential candidate in mod- ern times torefuse to make his returns public. It flared anew this week after MS- NBC said it had obtained two pages of Trump's 2005 federal return, prompting the administration to re- lease the documents pre- emptively. State law makers around the country, mostly Democrats, want to ensure transparency in future presidential cam- paigns so voters can eval- uate candidates' sources of income and any possi- ble conflicts of interest. Most of the bills would require presidential con- tenders to release copies of their returns as a condi- tion for appearing on that state's ballot, although it's unclear whether they could pass constitutional muster. The aim is to find out about potential conflicts that candidates might have before they take of- fice, said Hawaii Rep. Chris Lee, a Democrat who introduced one of the Ha- waii bills. "With what we've seen so far with this admin- istration, there are clear conflicts with respect to whether or not parts of the president's business em- pire are directly benefit- ing from federal contracts to house Secret Service at his own hotels, for exam- ple, or pressuring foreign dignitaries or other cor- porations indirectly to pa- tronize the businesses that the president or his chil- dren run," Lee said. "And the real question is, What else don't we know?" Hawaii was the first state to have votes on the bills before the full Legis- lature. The Democratically controlled House and Sen- ate recently passed sep- arate but largely similar measures, which would prevent the state's dele- gates to the Electoral Col- lege from voting for candi- dates who withheld their tax forms. Lawmakers are likely to send just one of those to Hawaii Gov. David Ige, a Democrat who expressed concerns about whether the proposed changes are constitutional. He said he does not think the state can place limits on the presidential election that are inconsistent with how the election is conducted around the country. Some legal experts raised similar flags, say- ing states do not have the power to create addi- tional qualifications for the office of the president. That's up to the U.S. Con- stitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that states and the federal government cannot add to the quali- fications of senators and congressional representa- tives outlined in the Con- stitution. Some legal ex- perts said that guidance likely would extend to the office of the president. "I think a requirement of revealing one's tax re- turns would be regarded as an additional qualifica- tion," said Michael McCo- nnell, a professor at Stan- ford Law School. "And then there's the tax law problem, because federal law guarantees the confi- dentiality of tax returns. And I think that law would pre-empt any state law re- quiring someone to di- vulge their returns." POLITICS Ru nni ng f or p re si de nt ? Some states want tax re tu rn s ma de p ub li c Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancingarenot applicable on these new selected models. All rebates in lieu of special APRs offered by Chrysler. All prices plus government fees and taxes, any finance charge, any dealer document, preparation charge, and any emission charge. Subject to prior sales & credit approval. Some vehicle images in this ad are for illustration purposes only and may vary from actual vehicle. Ad expires 03/22/17. 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