US Attorney General William Barr Claims FBI Spied on Trump Campaign

New York: US Attorney General William Barr has delivered a counter-punch to the Democrats with the explosive assertion that he thought the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had spied on President Donald Trump’s election campaign. “I think spying did occur,” Barr told a Senate panel on Wednesday in Washington. “I need to explore that.” After two years of Democrats pursuing Trump with claims that he collaborated with the Russians during the 2016 elections, which an inquiry finally said did not happen, Barr stirred the muddied political waters anew with the claim.

“Spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” he said but went on to add during questioning by senators on the sub-committee that deals with budgetary matters: “I have no specific evidence that I would cite right now. I do have questions about it.” Democrats accused Barr of trying to legitimize the accusations of spying on the Trump campaign. The party’s Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, said: “Perpetuating conspiracy theories is beneath the office of the Attorney General.” Separately on Wednesday, Trump called the surveillance “an attempted coup”. He told the media: “This was an attempted takedown of a president. And we beat them.” The President said that the surveillance “was started illegally” and “everything about it was crooked. Every single thing about it. There were dirty cops”. (IANS)

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