An official from the Obama administration released a statement denying they ordered surveillance of any U.S. citizen, instead leaving those decisions to the Department of Justice.

The statement came hours after President Donald Trump—publicly and without evidence—accused his predecessor of wiretapping Trump Tower during the election. The series of tweets that were posted after 3 a.m. also likened Obama to Nixon during Watergate. 

The Obama spokesperson, Kevin Lewis, wrote that any suggestion that the former president would do such a thing was “simply false.”

Trump’s seemingly baseless allegation comes amid rising scrutiny of his administration’s ties to the Russian government, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitted on Thursday to having contact with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign.

At least one member of Congress has already implied that Trump’s renewed feud with Obama was meant to distract the public and Congress from the need for a special prosecutor to handle an investigation into the ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government.

Trump has not yet responded to the Obama team's response.