FBI asks Justice Department to refute Trump's wiretap allegations

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has urged the Justice Department to rebuke President Donald Trump's allegation that his predecessor Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower prior to elections, CNN quoted two sources as saying.

It said the FBI made such request since the President cannot order a wiretap of U.S. citizens' phones.

On Saturday, Trump alleged that Obama ordered his phones to be wiretapped at Trump Tower.

"Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism," Trump had tweeted.

"Is it legal for a sitting president to be 'wire tapping' a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!" he said in another tweet.

Trump also tweeted that a "good lawyer could make a great case of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to election!"

A spokesman for the former president Obama on Saturday denied President Trump's accusation that he had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election.