US President Donald Trump has "no regrets" about accusing his predecessor of wiretapping Trump Tower, the White House press secretary has insisted.
Sean Spicer said that Trump's explosive allegations over the weekend still stood, and that the president would now wait for investigations to run their course.
Asked whether it was not a waste of time and money for congressional and senatorial committees to investigate Trump's baseless allegations, Spicer replied that it was "not about new proof".
The White House press secretary devoted much of his press conference to detailing Monday night's proposal for a new Republican healthcare plan.
He also sought to clarify Trump's accusation that Barack Obama had made "another terrible decision" to release prisoners from Guantanamo Bay -- and wrongly stating official figures to justify his attack.
In a day which was designed to be all about the Republicans' much-vaunted healthcare plans, Trump started the day by claiming that 122 "vicious" Guantanamo inmates had returned to the battlefield, "released by the Obama administration".
In fact, only nine of the 122 were released under Obama's administration, according to the September report by the Director of National Intelligence.
The vast majority - 113 - were released by George W Bush.
And the Twitter storm came, as ever, during the morning breakfast shows. Mr Trump appeared at times to be live-tweeting Fox News, joining in the conversation with their Twitter handle @FoxAndFriends.
He then launched a defence of his six-week old administration, amid a series of reports at the weekend detailing blazing, expletive-filled rows within the Oval Office, and staff members being "grounded" in Trump's fury.
Don't let the FAKE NEWS tell you that there is big infighting in the Trump Admin. We are getting along great, and getting major things done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
"Don't let the FAKE NEWS tell you that there is big infighting in the Trump Admin. We are getting along great, and getting major things done!" he tweeted.
He also then went on to express his support for the Republican plans to repeal and replace the hated Obamacare health system, which were unveiled on Monday night.
Democrats reacted with predictable anger, pointing out that there was no detail on how the scheme would be paid for and saying it would harm poorer Americans.
"Trumpcare doesn't replace the Affordable Care Act, it forces millions of Americans to pay more for less care," said Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader of the senate.
More worryingly for the Republicans, many within their own party expressed concerns. Rand Paul, the high-profile Kentucky senator, described it as "Obamacare light," saying it did not go far enough.
The Heritage Group, a conservative think tank, also described it as "flawed", and on Tuesday night the Freedom Caucus, a group of around 30 hard-liners in the House who criticised earlier versions of the bill, will meet to discuss the health-care bill, and consider presenting a list of demands to Republican leaders.
Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressman who is chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, made a clumsy defence of the plan, and brushed off the suggestion that it could lead to less coverage for low-income Americans.
"Americans have choices, and they have got to make a choice," he said. "So maybe rather than getting that iPhone they just love, that they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own health care. They've got to make those decisions themselves."
A new iPhone currently costs around US$700 ($1000). But a year of health insurance for an individual is over $6000, meaning that an iPhone is only slightly more than one month of insurance.
Originally published in Telegraph UK