President Trump responded to Attorney General William Barr’s assertion that the Obama administration spied on his 2016 presidential campaign, claiming that it was part of an “attempted coup.”

“This was an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a President and we beat them. We beat them,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday. “So the Mueller report, when they talk about obstruction, we fight back.”

President Trump: "This was an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a President and we beat them. We beat them. So the Mueller report, when they talk about obstruction, we fight back." https://t.co/NmUYzgZCSX pic.twitter.com/IWZaRQW8GI — The Hill (@thehill) April 10, 2019

“You know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was – it was a scam. And what I’m most interested in is getting started – hopefully the Attorney General, he mentioned it yesterday, he’s doing a great job – getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started.”

“Because this was an illegal witch hunt, and everybody knew it, and they knew it too. And they got caught. And what they did was treason,” Trump added.

Barr confirmed during a congressional hearing Wednesday that the Obama administration “conducted unauthorized surveillance” against Trump’s campaign leading up to the 2016 election, and that he assembled a team to investigate all the aspects of the FBI’s counterintelligence operation against Trump and Mueller’s Russia probe.

“I think spying did occur,” Barr said. “But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I am not suggesting that it wasn’t adequately predicated…I am not suggesting those rules were violated, but I think it is important to look at that. And I am not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly.”

RELATED: ‘ALWAYS GET EVEN’: TRUMP BOOK DEDICATES CHAPTER TO GETTING REVENGE ON ENEMIES

Twitter: Follow @WhiteIsTheFury

The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!