WASHINGTON (AP) — The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin is distancing the Kremlin from President Donald Trump’s claim that Barack Obama tapped his phones during the election campaign.
The claim comes amid the swirl of revelations about contacts between Trump aides and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., both during and after a presidential election Russia is believed to have meddled in.
When asked about the allegation, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that the Kremlin “should not be in any way linked to U.S. domestic issues” and “doesn’t have the slightest inclination or intention to be associated with these affairs.”
Trump has been trailed for months by questions about his campaign’s ties to Russia. Disclosures about his aides’ contacts with the Russian ambassador cost Michael Flynn his job as national security adviser.
