Arizona senator calls on Trump to clarify accusations against Obama

Sen. John McCain calls on US President Donald Trump to either withdraw or substantiate his wiretapping claim against former POTUS Barack Obama. The Arizona senator said he has no reason to believe Trump’s allegations.

"I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but I also believe that the President of the United States could clear this up in a minute," McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union.” The comment from the senator comes after Trump said through a series of tweets on March 4 that his predecessor had the "wires tapped" at Trump Tower, but presented no evidence.

McCain told anchor Jake Tapper that Trump's accusation should be resolved. It should not be left hanging as it “undermines the confidence the American people have in the entire way that the government does business.”

The senator also touched on issues concerning Trump’s relationship with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Trump’s associates have allegedly contacted Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign. It is believed that that Moscow has executed a hacking campaign to destabilize the candidacy of Democratic nominee and former US First Lady, Hillary Clinton.

McCain said there are several aspects of the issue that needs to be clarified because he does not think that the American people have obtained all the answers. "In fact, I think there's a lot more shoes to drop from this centipede,” he exclaimed.

The claims have been denied by the Russian government. "Russia is being demonized,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. But McCain believes that the issue needs more investigations but demanded that guilt should not be pointed out without probe.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has access to the nation's top intelligence, said he found no proof to the president’s wiretapping claims. Ryan is a member of the "Gang of Eight" of congressional leaders.

Several current and former national security officials have previously denied the president’s accusations. Obama’s spokesman called "any suggestion" that he or any official working for the White House ordered surveillance against the president as "simply false."

"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," Kevin Lewis said in a statement. The claim of Obama’s spokesperson was backed up by former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. He said there was no such wiretap activity mounted against Trump.