'It never hurts to say you're sorry,' a GOP House member advises Trump
Rep. Hurd said he's seen nothing to support Trump's claim of Obama wiretapping.
— -- A key House Intelligence Committee member said he has seen no evidence to support President Trump’s claim of former President Obama wiretapping Trump Tower and offered that Trump may want to consider some favorite advice by the congressman's father.
“To quote my 85-year-old father ... 'It never hurts to say you're sorry,'” Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on Sunday. “And it's not just sorry to [Obama] but sorry to the [United Kingdom] for the claims - or the intimation - that the U.K. was involved in this as well."
Hurd, a former CIA agent, said the unsubstantiated wiretapping claims "take away from the rest of [President Trump's] agenda.”
President Trump made the unsubstantiated claims two weeks ago when he accused Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the election campaign.
His press secretary, Sean Spicer, in a press briefing Thursday gave a lengthy defense of the president's wiretap allegations. Spicer read news articles from the podium that cited remarks by Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News commentator and former New Jersey superior court judge, suggesting that Obama used a British intelligence agency to spy on Trump.
A spokesperson for the British intelligence agency, GCHQ, dismissed the suggestion as "utterly ridiculous" and "nonsense."
Also in the interview on “This Week” was another key House Intelligence Committee member, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas.
Asked by Stephanopoulos if he has seen any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign associates with Russia's alleged attempts to interfere with the election, Castro said: "That's exactly what's being investigated."
Castro, Hurd and the rest of the House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing Monday on the allegations around Russia, the election and wiretapping claims.
Hurd cautioned that some in the public may be disappointed in what can be said publicly at the hearing.
“I think that some folks will probably be frustrated on Monday," Hurd said. "I'm not hearing certain answers because there may be an active investigation going on, criminal investigation.""And if there's an active criminal investigation we need to allow law enforcement in order to do their job,” Hurd said.