Barr Says Spying On Trump Campaign ‘Did Occur,’ But Provides No Evidence

Attorney General William Barr told lawmakers Wednesday that he will be looking to the “genesis” of the the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into potential ties between members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government began in 2016, saying, “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal” – echoing some of the more inflammatory claims lobbed by President Donald Trump for months, but declining to elaborate on his concerns.

“I think spying did occur,” Barr said, though he declined to provide the basis for his concern. “The question is whether it was . . . adequately predicated.”

The news will likely be viewed as a welcome development to the President, who has regularly called for an investigation and, as recently as last week, told reporters more should be done to examine the origins of the Russia probe.

It will also likely raise concerns of politicization of the department’s work at an already tense time, as Democrats worry that Barr is bending to the President’s demands and have called on Barr to release an unredacted version of the special counsel’s confidential report on the Russia investigation to Congress.