Attorney General William Barr Launches Investigation into Accusations of Campaign Spying during the 2016 Election

Attorney General William Barr says he believes there was campaign spying during the 2016 election cycle.

According to CBN News, Barr believes that political campaign spying may have been at the origin of the nearly two years long Mueller investigation into President Trump. Barr said that he has an “obligation” to look into whether or not spying did take place during the 2016 election cycle and as such he is working on putting together a team to investigate the allegations.

"I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal," Barr said during Senate testimony Wednesday.

"I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred," the attorney general said. "I am saying that I am concerned about it and am looking into it. I feel that I have an obligation to ensure government power was not abused." 

He added that the “question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated.”

A 22-month investigation found the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia during election season, but many Democrats have still asked to see the full report.

Barr said he couldn’t release a fully unredacted report but said the report should be released sometime next week.

In response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Associated Press that she didn’t trust Barr, while House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, tweeted that Barr’s statements “directly contradict” what the Justice Department found.

President Trump had said the investigation was a “witch hunt.”

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

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Mark Wilson/Staff