Britain has received assurances from the US that allegations the GCHQ intelligence agency helped former President Barack Obama eavesdrop on Donald Trump will not be repeated.
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White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Thursday cited unsubstantiated claims made by "Fox News" analyst Andrew Napolitano that former US President Barack Obama asked British intelligence agency GCHQ to monitor President Donald Trump.
A GCHQ spokesperson has described the claim as "utterly ridiculous."
Andrew Napolitano, a political commentator and former New Jersey judge, said on Tuesday Obama used GCHQ in order to "make sure there were no American fingerprints."
"Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command - he didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice," said Napolitano. "He used GCHQ."
"We've made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and they should be ignored and we've received assurances that these allegations will not be repeated," a Downing Street spokesman told reporters.
"We have a close special relationship with the White House and that allows us to raise concerns as and when they arise as
was true in this case."
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump alleged in a series of tweets that Obama had the real estate mogul's Manhattan home under surveillance.
"How low has President Obama gone to tapp (sic) my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick guy)," Trump said in a tweet.
"I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to election," he wrote in a separate tweet.
A GCHQ spokesperson described Napolitano's remarks, which were cited by the White House as "utterly ridiculous."
"Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then president-elect are nonsense," said the spokesperson.
'Simply false'
Obama has denied the surveillance allegations through his spokesman, saying a "cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice."
"As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis added.
The Trump administration has failed to provide evidence for the unsubstantiated allegations against Obama, prompting concerns from Congress.
Lawmakers have threatened to subpoena the Justice Department if it does not provide information concerning the allegations before March 20, when a public hearing on Russia's involvement in the 2016 US presidential election is set to begin.
Trump brought a new flurry of executive orders, memoranda and bill signings into effect in the last five weeks. Some were alterations of previous attempted policies, such as the travel ban. Here are the highlights.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Lucky number six - second time's a charm?
After his first travel ban was slapped down by several courts, Trump issued a revised order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries. This time, Trump dropped Iraq from a list that included seven blacklisted countries first time around. The new order temporarily suspended the entire US refugee program, but exempted those with visas and who had already been formally accepted as refugees.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Turning promises into policy
From February and into March, President Trump further advanced his political objectives through a combination of executive orders, memoranda, memos, and the signing of bills into law. He also used his executive authority to undo guidelines issued under the Obama administration.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Multiple policy-making methods
In February, Trump signed 11 new executive orders (broad ranging directives that help the executive branch manage federal government operations) and issued one memorandum (a more direct executive action aimed at a specific agency) targeting the Department of Labor. The US President also signed five bills sent to his Oval Office desk by Congress, which will now become law.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Kicking off financial de-regulation
President Trump's first February executive order established "core principles" for regulating the financial system and requires the Treasury Department to review and report on key provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. Republicans had criticized the act, which was implemented in the aftermath of the Great Recession, for strangling financial flexibility and inhibiting economic growth.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Expanding the power of the criminal justice system
Through a series of three executive orders, Trump followed up on his campaign promise to crack down on what he had described as rampant crime in the US. He ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to create a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety and heralded stronger combating of transnational crime. Trump also called for new federal crime criteria to prevent violence against police.
Image: Getty Images/J. Lott
Changing succession in the Department of Justice
On February 9, Trump signed Executive Order 13775 reversing changes to the Justice Department's line of succession that President Obama had made mere days before leaving office. Trump had already side-stepped Obama's order when he removed and replaced acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she had refused to defend Trump's travel ban.
Image: Getty Images/P. Marovich
Slashing agency regulations
Executive Order 13777, signed February 24, builds off of his previous January 30 order prioritizing massive deregulation across the federal government. The February order introduces Regulatory Reform Officers into federal agencies and creates reform task forces. Together, these bodies will advise on the "repeal, replacement or modification" of regulations perceived as prohibitive or ineffective.
Image: Getty Images/D. McNew
Dismantling environmental protection
Trump began undoing environmental protections on two fronts. Firstly, he issued an executive order directing the Environmental Protection Agency to review a rule that empowers the federal government to protect waterways. Though unlikely to have immediate effects, the order could eventually weaken the 1972 Clean Water Act. Trump also signed a bill invalidating an Obama-era stream protection rule.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/S. Helber
Promoting historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)
Surronded in the Oval Office by leaders from historically black educational institutions, Trump signed Executive Order 13779 in order to "promote excellence and innovation" at HBCUs. Primary goals including increasing private-sector participation in the institutions, broadly improving HBCUs capabilities, improving the relationships between HBCUs and the federal government.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Guerrucci
Striking transgender guidelines
In a two-page letter to US public schoos, the Trump administration revoked a controversial Obama-era federal directive allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing. The White House jusitified the action through a pending court case, despite the guidelines already being on hold. The letter did not lay out new guidelines, meaning states can choose their policies.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS
Reversing bill stopping mentally-ill people buying guns
On February 28 Trump signed a measure to block an Obama-era regulation that would have prevented about 75,000 people with mental disorders from purchasing firearms. In an effort to curb gun violence, the Obama administration asked the Social Security Administration to disclose information about people with certain mental illnesses to the gun background system.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Krzaczynski
Releases aggressive guidelines on deportation
In the third week of February the Department of Homeland Security released Trump's plans to aggressively enforce deportation policies regardless of the severity of an immigrant's criminal history. The guidelines kicked off a nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Image: picture alliance/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/AP/dpa/C. Reed
Supports women in STEM fields
Trump signed two bills promoting women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). One required NASA to encourage young women to study STEM fields and pursue careers that will help advance science and space exploration. The second required the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to work in the commercial world.