Washington (CNN) Attorney General William Barr suggested to lawmakers Wednesday that Donald Trump's presidential campaign was spied on, saying he will be looking into the "genesis" of the FBI's counterintelligence investigation that began in 2016 of potential ties between the campaign and the Russian government.

"I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal," Barr said, echoing some of the more inflammatory claims lobbed by the President for months, but declining to elaborate on his concerns. "I think spying did occur."

He did not provide evidence for his claims.

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 of Justice'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.

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