Testifying before a Senate panel Wednesday, Attorney General Barr said he believes the Trump campaign was spied on adding he’s not sure if the espionage was “adequately predicated.”



The money line:

NEW: AG Barr tells Congress "I think spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur" on the Trump campaign. He adds "The question was whether it was adequately predicated. And I'm not suggesting it wasn't predicated. I need to explore that" pic.twitter.com/oh1ATTpM4a — Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) April 10, 2019

Barr said the Justice Department will investigate the origins of the counterintelligence investigation into Trump’s campaign.

From the WSJ:

The issue has been a longstanding grievance among Republican lawmakers who allege law-enforcement officials and prosecutors abused their authority at the start of the investigation and may have harbored a political bias against then-candidate Donald Trump. “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Mr. Barr said in a hearing before a Senate panel. “Spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated.” “I feel I have an obligation to make sure that government power is not abused. I think that’s one of the principal roles of the attorney general,” Mr. Barr said. A person familiar with the matter said the team, which Mr. Barr said was not operational yet, will look at the decisions and actions of officials involved in the early stages of the probe. The formation of the team was first reported by Bloomberg.

Sen. Graham rightly wondered why no one on Trump’s team, which included two former US attorneys, was informed about the counterintelligence investigation:

Given the players here (see also: Former FBI Director Comey, Former FBI Deputy Director McCabe, and Former FBI Agent Strzok), an investigation into the investigation will likely not bode well for those afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Trump fired back, calling the “illegal investigation” a “phony and treasonous hoax.”

So, it has now been determined, by 18 people that truly hate President Trump, that there was No Collusion with Russia. In fact, it was an illegal investigation that should never have been allowed to start. I fought back hard against this Phony & Treasonous Hoax! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2019

If you’d like to watch the full hearing, you can do so here:



