Dear Editor:

With apparently nothing to back it up President Trump had alleged on March 4 that former President Obama had wiretapped or in other ways ordered surveillance on the Trump campaign and Trump Towers. This is a serious allegation for a president to make. It is a felony.

Despite lack of any supporting evidence the president continues to double down on his original claims which tends to discredit himself, his colleagues and many in government service. FBI Director Comey urged the allegation be dropped and will issue more information this week. Homeland Security the National Security Agency could find nothing. Party leaders Senator Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan know of nothing to support the Trump assertion. Leaders of the bipartisan U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, charged with investigating the allegation found no evidence of Obama supported surveillance. The House Intelligence Committee concurs.

The president says he picked up the suggestion from two news releases, but if you examine the releases there is still no substance. Most recently the claim was made that the Obama administration had the British conduct surveillance, but this was dismissed by the British as "utterly ridiculous." Senator Susan Collins had called on Trump to produce evidence for his claim but he has not. Many other fellow Republican leaders have called upon the president to drop the accusation, but to no avail.

Donald Trump is President and he owes it to us seek the help of his own administration to help verify any charges he makes. Not only does his wild allegation make himself look bad it tends to discredit his co-workers and other leaders in which we need to regain some sense of trust. We need to be able to trust our leaders when they speak, and they need to earn that trust. The president does not set a good example.

Dave and Ellie Taylor

Boothbay Harbor