President Donald Trump's White House has been facing backlash this week after the president made unsubstantiated claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the election.
During Wednesday's briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer made a false allegation that a Fox News reporter's phone was tapped during Obama's presidency.
Spicer was commenting on a WikiLeaks dump on Tuesday that detailed the CIA's alleged widespread hacking. "James Rosen had his phone, multiple phones tapped," Spicer said.
Rosen himself debunked the claim during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Sunday. "I was not wiretapped, my parents were not wiretapped, which is where you place a listening device on someone's telephone line and you listen to their conversations," said Rosen.
Rosen retweeted a number of tweets on Wednesday after Spicer's false allegations, including one that read, "No evidence of that. His calling records were obtained by Justice Dept."
Spicer says @JamesRosenFNC had his phone tapped. No evidence of that. His calling records were obtained by Justice Dept— Josh Gerstein (@Josh Gerstein) 1488999392.0
.@joshgerstein And the gmails illegally read, and the swipe badge movements tracked, and my parents' call records, and, and -- @PressSec— James Rosen (@James Rosen) 1489000730.0
According to CNN's reporting, former Attorney General Eric Holder subpoenaed Rosen's emails and phone records after he was deemed a "criminal co-conspirator" after receiving classified information from a former contractor at the State Department.
Spicer's wiretap claims are unfounded and false.
