Spying on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign during the Obama administration definitely took place and lawyers at the Department of Justice are compiling data from multiple investigations, including several by Congress, to determine why, US Attorney General William Barr said in a congressional on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2019) Spying on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign during the Obama administration definitely took place and lawyers at the Department of Justice are compiling data from multiple investigations, including several by Congress, to determine why, US Attorney General William Barr said in a congressional on Wednesday."I think spying did occur but the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated," Barr told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Justice Department.
When asked why, Barr responded that "spying on a political campaign is a big deal" for "the same reason we're worried about foreign influence in [US] elections."
"To the extent there were any issues at the FBI, I do not view it as a problem that's endemic to the FBI," Barr said. "I think there was probably a failure among a group of leaders there at the upper echelons."
At issue is why the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation of the Trump presidential campaign in the summer of 2016 - a probe that led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
For nearly two years, Mueller investigated charges of campaign collusion between Trump and with Russia and concluded that no collusion had taken place, according to Barr.
Barr told lawmakers that a redacted version of Mueller's report could be released as early as next week.
Trump has called for the appointment of a second special counsel to probe whether senior FBI officials - along with senior officials in the Obama administration - had mobilized US intelligence assets and leaked classified information to media in an attempt to ensure Trump's defeat in November elections.
Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the US political system, saying the allegations were made up to excuse the election loss of Trump's opponent as well as to deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.
