US intelligence chiefs to testify on Russia ties, alleged wiretap

The directors of the FBI and NSA are to give testimony before Congress on Monday on what ties President Donald Trump may have with Russia and his explosive allegation that he was wiretapped by his predecessor Barack Obama.

FBI director James Comey and the NSA's Admiral Mike Rogers will speak at a rare open hearing of the congressional intelligence committee. The hearing is aimed at probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election campaign.

The two directors were invited to testify by Republican Devin Nunes, chairperson of the House committee, and Adam Schiff, the panel's top Democrat. The hearing is expected to start at 10:00 local time (15:00 CET).

Trump and his entourage's possible ties with the Russia of President Vladimir Putin have been the subject of much speculation since before he was elected on 8 November.

US intelligence agencies in January took the extraordinary step of stating publicly that they had concluded that hackers working for Russia broke into the email accounts of senior Democrats and released embarrassing ones with the aim of helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

Russia denies trying to influence the election, while Trump denounced the investigation as a "total witch hunt".

However, Schiff said the material offers circumstantial evidence that US citizens collaborated with Russians to influence the vote.

"There was circumstantial evidence of collusion; there is direct evidence, I think, of deception," Schiff said. "There's certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation."

Two senior officials in the Trump administration have been caught up in the affair - Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Sessions has removed himself from the FBI inquiry. He was accused by Democrats of lying under oath when he testified at a January confirmation hearing that he had "no communications with the Russians" before it emerged that he had met Moscow's ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak during the campaign.

Flynn was fired last month after he misled the White House about his conversations with the Moscow diplomat, allegedly regarding US sanctions.

Monday's hearing was also expected to address Trump's unsubstantiated accusations that the Obama administration wiretapped his phone at Trump Tower in New York during the campaign.

On 4 March, Trump accused Obama of "tapping" his phone in a series of tweets.

Trump has provided no evidence, and senior Republican and Democratic officials have dismissed the idea.