US Attorney General William Barr says ‘spying did occur’ in probe of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign
- The real question, Barr says, is whether officials had proper legal justification to open such an investigation
- He says review of issue may result in scrutiny of senior FBI officials’ conduct
US Attorney General William Barr said on Wednesday he thought “spying” on a political campaign occurred in the course of intelligence agencies’ investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election – a startling assertion by the nation’s top law enforcement official.
At a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Barr was asked about his statement a day earlier that he would review how the FBI launched its counter-intelligence investigation that sought to determine whether Donald Trump’s associates were interacting with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal,” said Barr, noting that there are long-held rules to prevent intelligence agencies from collecting information on domestic political figures.
“I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at that,” he said. “I’m not talking about the FBI necessarily but intelligence agencies more broadly.”
I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal
Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked: “You’re not suggesting that spying occurred?”