Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) told Breitbart News that the Obama administration’s surveillance of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign — and resultant operation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller — had “no legal basis in the first place.” He joined Tuesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.

Steube shared some of the costs born by taxpayers to fund Mueller’s ostensible investigation of alleged Russian political interference in 2016’s president election.

“I think it’s important for your listeners to know the intensity of this investigation,” said Steube. “Twenty-two months, $25 million of taxpayer dollars spent, 19 lawyers who were assisted by approximately 40 FBI agents, 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants, [and] 500 witnesses.”

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Steube added, “And after all of that investigation, they found there was absolutely no evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and furthermore, that the Russian government attempted to try to reach out to the Trump campaign, and the Trump campaign dismissed and were not involved in any of those interactions.”

The “mainstream media,” noted Steube, furthered the narrative of “collusion” between Trump, Trump’s family and associates, and the Russian government.

“The mainstream media has spent, basically, two years indicting the president. … They have basically perpetuated a fraud on the American people for the last two years. … Leftist media has perpetuated this fraud against the American people of this Russian collusion.”

Steube asked what evidence formed the basis of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issuance of a warrant to “spy on the Trump campaign.”

“The first question I have — being a lawyer — is, ‘There’s absolutely no evidence that there was any collusion. How did the FISA court have probable cause to issue a search warrant to be able to go and basically spy on the Trump campaign?'” asked Steuebe “That’s my question as a lawyer. What probable cause did you have to issue that initial search warrant to spy on the Trump campaign all based on this Russian dossier that the Clinton campaign produced that was then given to the FBI?”

Steube continued, “If there is zero evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, then how did you get probable cause to issue a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign?”



Steube added, “There was completely no legal basis to begin it in the first part.

Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.