Spicer: Reporters ‘splitting hairs’ with wiretap timeline questions

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday pushed back against media scrutiny over the timing of President Trump’s tweets alleging that President Obama’s administration wiretapped him, arguing that reporters were “splitting hairs.”

CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Spicer about Trump’s tweets earlier this month and during what phase of the election process he believes Obama wiretapped him during. One of Trump’s tweets said that “Obama was tapping my phones in October.”

“I think if we’re splitting hairs about what day of the calendar it was, that’s a pretty interesting development,” Spicer said at Friday’s briefing.

{mosads}“But if the allegation was, well it was actually on the 1st of December or the 10th of December versus the 31st of October, I think we’re starting to split some serious hairs here.”

Spicer has repeatedly condemned reporters for focusing on the “process” and not the “substance” of findings from the intelligence community.

“I think we’ve lost focus here,” Spicer said about questions concerning dates of the tweets. “It’s fascinating to me that we’re arguing the date and not the substance.” 

Trump alleged that Obama had his “wires tapped” in Trump Tower during the campaign, a claim Spicer has said referred more broadly to surveillance by the previous administration. While no evidence has been found to support Trump’s accusation, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said that he acquired information that shows Trump’s transition team was incidentally surveilled. 

Nunes has come under fire for secretly meeting on White House grounds last week to acquire the information from his source. He’s also been attacked for briefing Trump and reporters about his findings before discussing it with the entire House Intelligence Committee.

The New York Times reported Thursday that two White House officials had a hand in passing the information to Nunes.