Congressional Democrats are furious over Attorney General William Barr’s statement Wednesday that Donald Trump’s campaign was spied on, accusing the attorney general of mischaracterizing the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation in an effort to please President Donald Trump.
“He almost seems to be endorsing one of these theories that has been debunked time and time again by the various, even House Republican-led investigations trying to show some kind of resentment,” Warner added.
But Republicans who have already been investigating the origins of the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s team and Russia praised Barr’s comments, saying they welcomed his plans to review the matter.
“I say God bless him,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. “I’ve been very impressed with the attorney general. He said (Tuesday) in the hearing in front of the appropriations subcommittee that he’s going to go back to the beginning, back to the summer of 2016 and examine what took place. I think that’s exactly what needs to happen.”
Trump said Wednesday that Barr was doing a “great job” and “getting started on going back to the origins on where exactly this all started because it was an illegal witch hunt.”
‘Spying did occur, yes’
At a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Barr explained that he would review the beginning of the counterintelligence investigation because “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, asked whether he was suggesting there was spying, and Barr responded: “Spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur.”
Later, Barr was asked twice whether he wanted to clarify his statement. Barr first said he wanted to make sure no “unauthorized surveillance” occurred, and then offered up his own clarification at the conclusion of the hearing.
“I just want to make it clear, thinking back on all the different colloquies here, that I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred,” Barr said.
