House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., excoriated Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday for saying "spying did occur" on President Trump's 2016 campaign.

"The casual suggestion by the nation’s top law enforcement officer of 'spying' may please Donald Trump, who rails against a 'deep state coup,' but it strikes another destructive blow to our democratic institutions. The hardworking men and women at the DOJ and FBI deserve better," Schiff tweeted.

The casual suggestion by the nation’s top law enforcement officer of “spying” may please Donald Trump, who rails against a “deep state coup,” but it strikes another destructive blow to our democratic institutions.



The hardworking men and women at the DOJ and FBI deserve better. https://t.co/7kJfsU8Rv0 — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 10, 2019

Barr told a Senate panel earlier in the day that he believed "spying did occur" on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election cycle, but he would not share the "basis" for his concern. He appeared to be alluding to Republican claims the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Trump 2016 campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

"I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated — adequately predicated," Barr testified. "I'm not suggesting it wasn't adequately predicated, but I need to explore that. I think it's my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned about intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane."

Schiff joins House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., in criticizing Barr for Wednesday's admission.

"These comments directly contradict what DOJ previously told us. I’ve asked DOJ to brief us immediately. In the meantime, the AG still owes us the full Mueller report," Nadler wrote on Twitter.

The fight over the spying accusation is the latest test of Barr's relationship with congressional Democrats. They have been riled up over the attorney general's decision to only prepare for release a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report outlining his findings from his federal Russia investigation.

Schiff's remarks mirror scrutiny of Democrats by Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who in the 1990s probed former President Bill Clinton. Starr said this week that Democrats were "eroding confidence in the rule of law unnecessarily" by criticizing Barr.

Schiff is facing calls from Republicans, including all the GOP members of his committee, to step down from his leadership role for his insistence that there is evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.

[Opinion: Byron York: Barr is right, spying on Trump campaign did occur]