Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fiercely defended President Donald Trump's explosive allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap at Trump Tower – saying it needs to be investigated.
In a contentious interview with ABC News' "This Week" moderator Martha Raddatz, Sanders did not provide evidence for Trump's accusation.
"I think the bigger thing is, let's find out, let's have an investigation," she said. "If Congress is] going to investigation Russia ties, let's include this as part of it. And so that's what we're asking."
"What about these accusations?" Raddatz pressed. "You keep saying, 'if,' 'if,' 'if.' The president of the United States said it was a fact. He didn't say I read a story in Breitbart or 'The New York Times' or wherever else. He said, just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower. That's not an 'if.'"
" I will let the president speak for himself," Sanders replied.
"But you're backing off of it. You're backing off of it… because you're saying 'if,'" Raddatz complained.
"You guys are always telling us to take the media seriously," Sander replied to Raddatz's questioning. "Well, we are today. We're taking the reports that places like The New York Times, FOX News, BBC, multiple outlets have reported this. All we're saying is let's take a closer look. Let's look into this. If this happened, if this is accurate, this is the biggest overreach and the biggest scandal."
"I think the bigger story isn't who reported it, but is it true?" she added.