Aaron Bernstein/Reuters
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that he wouldn’t use the term “spying” to describe the government probe into Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. “Well, that’s not the term I would use,” Wray told the Senate Appropriations Committee, CNN reports. “I believe that the FBI is engaged in investigative activity and part of investigative activity includes surveillance activity of different shapes and sizes. To me, the key question is making sure that it’s done by the book, consistent with our lawful authorities.” Attorney General William Barr described the investigation into the Trump campaign as “spying” earlier this year, and defended his remark as the use of a “good English word” last week to Congress.
At the hearing, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) asked Wray if he believed the FBI engaged in “illegal surveillance” of the Trump campaign, to which Wray replied: “I don’t think I personally have any evidence of that sort.” Despite this, Wray told the senators was working with Barr to investigate the issue. The Justice Department’s inspector general is also reportedly looking into the surveillance.