The false accusation that President Obama had British intelligence spy on Donald Trump actually originated on a Russian news outlet. Everybody act surprised.

Larry C. Johnson

Media Matters was the first to report this connection: 

On RT, Larry C. Johnson Alleged That Obama “Collu[ded] Overseas With Britain’s Own GCHQ” To Spy On Trump. Appearing on a March 6 broadcast on state-sponsored Russian news network RT, Larry C. Johnson, credited as a “former CIA analyst and State Department official,” alleged that “there was some collusion overseas” between U.S. intelligence and “Britain’s own GHCQ (sic)” “to derail the candidacy of Donald Trump.” Citing “very good friends,” Johnson alleged that GCHQ “actually passed” information “to John Brennan, and it was disseminated within the U.S. government.” Johnson closed the RT interview by claiming former Obama administration officials involved in the collusion could face "criminal charges," specifically sedition. From the March 6 interview: 

NEIL HARVEY (HOST): Let’s bring in former CIA analyst and State Department official Larry Johnson, joins me live over the line. Very good afternoon to you, Larry. We’ve heard it said that these are really serious accusations by some guests we’ve had on so far. What’s your assessment of what Donald Trump’s had to said -- how big a deal is this? 

LARRY JOHNSON: I think it’s a huge deal. The problem is Trump probably shouldn’t have done this via Twitter, because to call it that it was a wiretap is technically inaccurate. And the denials by the Obama people are like Bill Clinton asking what the meaning of “is” is with respect to was oral sex a sexual act. In this case, I understand from very good friends that what happened was both Jim Clapper and John Brennan at CIA were intimately involved in trying to derail the candidacy of Donald Trump. That there was some collusion overseas with Britain’s own GHCQ (sic). That information that was gathered from GHCQ (sic) was actually passed to John Brennan, and it was disseminated within the U.S. government. This dissemination was illegal. Donald Trump is in essence correct that the intelligence agencies and some in the law enforcement community on the side of the FBI were in fact illegally trying to access, monitor his communications with his aides, and with other people. All of this with an end to try to destroy and discredit his presidency. I don’t think there will be any doubt of that.

That was then repeated by Andrew Napolitano on Fox and Friends.

That was then repeated by Sean Spicer during a White House Press briefing: 

Last, on Fox News on March 14th, Judge Andrew Napolitano made the following statement — quote — Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn’t use the NSA, he didn’t use the CIA, he didn’t use the FBI, and he didn’t use the Department of Justice. He used GCHQ. What is that? It’s the initials for the British intelligence spying agency. So simply by having two people saying to them the president needs transcripts of conversations involving candidate Trump’s conversations, involving President-elect Trump, he’s able to get it and there’s no American fingerprints on this. Putting the published accounts and common sense together, this leads to a lot.

And just like that this bullshit accusation became national news.

The New York Times followed up and attempted to make some sense of all of this:  

Mr. Napolitano, who keeps a residence in Manhattan at Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West, did not respond to inquiries on Friday.

But Mr. Johnson, who was himself once a Fox News contributor, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Napolitano called him on Friday and requested that he speak to The New York Times. Mr. Johnson said he was one of the sources for Mr. Napolitano’s claim about British intelligence.

Actually it appears he was the ONLY source.

And just WHO is Larry C. Johnson?

Well funny you should ask:

Mr. Johnson became infamous in political circles after he spread false rumors in 2008 that Michelle Obama had been videotaped using a slur against Caucasians.

Remember that?

Johnson also released a carefully edited John Kerry interview in 2013 to accuse him of war crimes.

This also from Media Matters:  

On September 7, 2013, Johnson posted on his website No Quarter an article alleging that then-Secretary of State John Kerry “is a self-admitted rapist,” pointing to audio allegedly from a 1971 broadcast of The Dick Cavett Show. Johnson’s audio had Kerry appearing to say that he “raped for pleasure” during the Vietnam War. Actual video of that episode shows that Kerry never said that. Some time after a commenter noted that “the audio is obviously doctored” and linked to the original clip and a transcript, the post was deleted.

THIS is who the White House was quoting whether they knew it or not.

In other words Russia's propaganda is still affecting politics in this country even months after the election.