GCHQ - Britain's electronic espionage agency - has dismissed fresh claims it spied on Donald Trump's presidential election campaign as "utterly ridiculous".
The US president highlighted a claim by a former CIA analyst that British intelligence assisted the administration of Barack Obama by spying on his 2016 run for the White House.
In a trademark tweet, Mr Trump added: "WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!"
However GCHQ responded by referring to a statement it issued when similar allegations surfaced in 2017 dismissing the claim it was asked to conduct "wiretapping" against the then president elect as "nonsense".
"They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored," the statement said.
The row erupted the day after it was announced that Mr Trump would be making his long-awaited state visit to the UK in June.
In his tweet, Mr Trump referenced a report by the One America News Network which referred to the claims made by Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst.
“Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign.” @OANN WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019
Mr Johnson is a controversial figure in the US where he has been accused of making a series of false allegations - including one that Michelle Obama had been recorded using a slur against white people.
The allegation that GCHQ spied on the Trump campaign at the behest of the Obama administration was first made in 2017 by Andrew Napolitano, a former judge and commentator for Fox News.
He claimed he had been told by intelligence sources that the Obama team had wanted to use the British agency so there would be "no American fingerprints on this".
His comments were then picked up by the then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer to back up Mr Trump's claim that the Obama administration had bugged his phones.
That prompted a rare public denial from GCHQ.
It said in a statement: "Recent allegations made by media commentator judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wiretapping' against the then president-elect are nonsense."
Mr Trump's intervention threatened to lead to new strains in the relationship with the US, just as the two countries are preparing for the president's state visit in June.
It comes amid signs that ministers are prepared to grant Chinese tech giant Huawei a role in building the UK's 5G network - something the US strongly opposes.
Ministers denied a decision had been taken to allow it to provide "noncore" equipment at a meeting on Tuesday of the National Security Council chaired by Theresa May, saying a final decision was expected later in the spring.
However, speaking at a cyber security conference in Glasgow, the head of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming said the "flag of origin" was only a "secondary factor" when considering whether to allow particular technology to be used in the UK network.
Senior security figures have previously warned that allowing a Chinese firm access to the UK's critical telecommunications network could jeopardise national security.
The US has banned Huawei from taking part in its government networks and has been pressing other partners in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - to follow suit.
It reflects fears that the Chinese government could require it to install "back door" technology that would allow it to spy on them or disrupt their communications.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel