‘INTOLERABLE’

Attorney General Bill Barr: FBI May Have Acted in ‘Bad Faith’ in Trump Campaign Probe

The attorney general contradicted a key finding of the Justice Department inspector general’s report.

Attorney General William Barr came out against the conclusions of the Justice Department’s inspector general, telling NBC News that the FBI’s investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign aides was opened based on a “completely bogus narrative.” While Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he found no evidence that political bias influenced the opening of the FBI’s probe, Barr said there was a possibility that the investigation was launched in “bad faith.” “I think there were gross abuses…and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI,” he said, adding that the Trump campaign was “clearly spied upon” with “counterintelligence techniques” by the agency. “That’s what electronic surveillance is… going through people’s emails, wiring people up,” he said.

The attorney general also said Horowitz did not decide “the issue of improper motive” in his report. “All he said was, people gave me an explanation and I didn’t find anything to contradict it,” Barr claimed. “I think we have to wait until the full investigation is done.” Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct another investigation into the origins of the investigation into the Trump campaign, though his conclusions have yet to be released.