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April 24 (UPI) -- British intelligence agencies strongly denied accusations from President Donald Trump Tuesday that they helped the Obama administration spy on the Trump campaign in 2016. Trump posted a tweet early Tuesday, quoting a One America News Network report that the British intelligence agency GCHQ wiretapped Trump Tower in New York City. The report's source was former CIA agent Larry Johnson, who is a frequent contributor to Russian state media.
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OANN is a pro-Trump pay TV channel based in California.
The GCHQ quickly responded.
"As we have previously stated, the allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then-president-elect are nonsense," a British intelligence representative told Newsweek. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."
Johnson was the source for the claim going as far back as 2017, first reported by Fox News. He also accused the CIA of hacking the Democratic National Convention, not the Russians as stated in the Mueller report.
The tweet comes one day after Trump accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for a formal state visit to Britain in early June. He will also visit France for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Massive protests are planned, including the "Baby Trump" blimp that hovered over crowds when Trump visited Britain last year. An estimated 250,000 people protested Trump's last visit to London.
"The original Trump baby blimp will definitely be back," Leo Murray, one of the blimp's creators, told CNN. "We are looking at other creative interventions we could make. We'd looked into commissioning a bigger balloon, including getting quotes for hot air balloons --but decided against it as it's so expensive."
