Lindsey Graham demands evidence from FBI on Obama wiretap, threatens subpoena

President Donald Trump asked Congress to investigate any abuses on the part of  former President Barack Obama's administration during 2016, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is answering the call. He has asked FBI Director James Comey to produce any and all information about the alleged wiretapping, and he's threatening to file subpoenas to get the information.

"The president has asked Congress to look into whether or not his campaign was wiretapped by the Obama administration. I'll take up that challenge," Graham told CNN Wednesday.

Graham and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to the FBI director asking his agency to produce any evidence pertaining to Trump's claims of wiretapping.

"We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders," the letter read, "redacted as necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods that may be compromised by disclosure, and to protect any ongoing investigations — related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower."

"All I can say is that the country needs an answer to this," Graham stated on CNN. "The current president has accused the former president of basically wiretapping his campaign."

The senator also told CNN that he would be willing to subpoena evidence if necessary.

However, as Graham has noted before, any illegal wiretapping ordered by the former president would be "the worst scandal since Watergate," and any evidence that wiretapping was allowed legally because of evidence of wrongdoing by the Trump campaign would be just as bad for Trump.

"We would be equally alarmed to learn that a court found enough evidence of criminal activity or contact with a foreign power to legally authorize a wiretap of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower," the letter read.

.@LindseyGrahamSC and @SenWhitehouse are threatening to subpoena for Trump wiretap info https://t.co/sUG8iDOyoP https://t.co/f66hPxpApR

— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) March 9, 2017

Graham commented on Trump's demand the day the president made it, saying that he would do what he could to get to the bottom of the accusation. Trump first made the allegations on Saturday and then had press secretary Sean Spicer tweet the demand of Congress the next day. Many Republicans have balked at the notion, including Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) who said there was no evidence supporting the accusations.

The New York Times reported that Comey asked the Department of Justice to reject the allegations made by Trump, but they have so far refused to do so. Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that there was no substance to the claims made by Trump and tried to debunk the sources cited for the allegations.