Santa Fe New Mexican

Barr thinks spying on Trump camp ‘did occur’

Attorney general’s remarks to a congressio­nal subcommitt­ee seem to back president’s claim his campaign was targeted

- By Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick

Attorney General William Barr declared Wednesday he thinks “spying did occur” against Donald Trump’s presidenti­al campaign, suggesting the origins of the Russia investigat­ion may have been mishandled in remarks that aligned him with the president at a time when Barr’s independen­ce is under scrutiny.

Barr, appearing before a Senate panel, did not say what “spying” may have taken place but seemed to be alluding to a surveillan­ce warrant the FBI obtained on a Trump aide. He later said he wasn’t sure there had been improper surveillan­ce but wanted to make sure proper procedures were followed.

Still, his remarks give a boost to Trump and his supporters who insist his 2016 campaign was unfairly targeted by the FBI.

Barr was testifying for a second day at congressio­nal budget hearings that were dominated by questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigat­ion. The attorney general said he expects to release a redacted version of Mueller’s report on Russian interferen­ce in the campaign next week.

Democrats have expressed concern that his version will conceal wrongdoing by the president and are frustrated by the four-page summary letter he released last month that they say paints Mueller’s findings in an overly favorable way for the president.

Barr’s testimony on Wednesday further inflamed the Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she didn’t trust Barr and suggested his statements undermined his credibilit­y as America’s chief law enforcemen­t officer.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York tweeted that Barr’s comments “directly contradict” what the Justice Department previously has said. And intelligen­ce committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California said Barr’s comments were sure to please Trump, but strike “another destructiv­e blow to our democratic institutio­ns.”

Republican­s, meanwhile, praised Barr’s testimony. North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, a Trump confidant who has raised concerns about Justice Department conduct investigat­ing Trump, tweeted that Barr’s willingnes­s to step in is “massive.”

At the Capitol hearing, senators appeared taken aback by his use of the word “spying.” Asked by Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz if he wanted to rephrase his language, Barr said, “I’m not sure of all the connotatio­ns of that word that you’re referring to, but you know, unauthoriz­ed surveillan­ce.”

Barr is an experience­d public figure who chooses his words carefully, and it’s not clear if he realized what a political storm he’d create in using the word “spying.” While it could be used to describe lawful and necessary intelligen­ce collection activities, for Trump and his supporters in this case it has an inherently negative meaning. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said on Fox Business News that “People were wiretapped. People were looked into and spied upon. That should be a serious question that the American people should demand answers for and quite frankly so should Congress.”

Trump has repeatedly said the investigat­ion of his campaign is an illegal “witch hunt.”

On Wednesday he said, “It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked. Every single thing about it. There were dirty cops.”

Though Barr said at his January confirmati­on hearing that he didn’t believe Mueller would be involved in a witch hunt, he struck a different tone Wednesday and said it “depends on where you’re sitting.”

“If you are somebody who’s being falsely accused of something, you would tend to view the investigat­ion as a witch hunt,” he said.

The spying discussion started when Barr was asked by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, about his plans to review his department’s actions in investigat­ing Trump. A separate investigat­ion is being conducted by the department’s inspector general. Barr explained that he considered spying on a political campaign to be a “big deal,” invoking the surveillan­ce of civil rights protesters and then of anti-war protesters during the Vietnam War.

Asked by Shaheen if he was suggesting “spying” had occurred, Barr replied “spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated,” meaning whether it was legally justified.

Barr later said that although he did not have specific evidence of wrongdoing, “I do have questions about it.”

“I feel I have an obligation to make sure that government power was not abused,” he said.

Asked again about spying at the end of the hearing, Barr tempered his tone. “I am not saying improper surveillan­ce occurred. I am saying I am concerned about it, and I am looking into it,” he said.

 ?? ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Attorney General William Barr appeared before a House Appropriat­ions subcommitt­ee, where he remarked about potential spying on Donald Trump’s campaign.
ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS Attorney General William Barr appeared before a House Appropriat­ions subcommitt­ee, where he remarked about potential spying on Donald Trump’s campaign.

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