The US Justice Department has confirmed there is no evidence to back up US President Donald Trump's claim that his predecessor Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 election campaign.
"Both FBI and NSD [National Security Division] confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets," the department said in a court filing that came about in response to a freedom of information request by American Oversight, a government watchdog.
The NSD is a division of the Department of Justice.
The FBI had previously shot down the claims, that were made as controversy over alleged links between Mr Trump's campaign team and Russia intensified earlier this year.
"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" Mr Trump tweeted on 4 March.
"How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!" he added.
He also repeated the claim during a White House press conference with Angela Merkel later that month.
Mr Trump's former spokesman Sean Spicer also defended the claim and cited a Fox News report which alleged that Britain's GCHQ spy agency did the wiretapping for Mr Obama.
Reacting to the findings, Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, said: "The FBI and Department of Justice have now sided with former director Comey and confirmed in writing that President Trump lied when he tweeted that former president Obama 'wiretapped' him at Trump Tower.
"This filing confirms that even Trump's own Department of Justice does not believe he has credibility on a key element of the Russia investigation."
