Barr Suggests Investigation Of Obama Officials For Trump Campaign Spying

GOP Attorney General William Barr has testified before Congress following the release of the Mueller report summary. Lawmakers of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee didnāt just limit their focus to the special counselās investigation, however, allowing Barr to make allegations that āspying did occurā during President Donald Trumpās 2016 campaign.
āI think spying did occur,ā Barr told a Senate subcommittee in Washington. āI think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. Itās a big deal. The generation I grew up in⦠people were all concerned about spying on anti-war people and so forth by the government, and there were a lot of rules put in place to make sure that thereās an adequate basis before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance. Iām not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think itās important to look at that. And Iām not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly.ā
āThe question was whether it was adequately predicated,ā he continued. āIām not suggesting it wasnāt adequately predicated. I need to explore that. I think itās my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned about intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane. I want to make sure that happened. We have a lot of rules about that. I want to say that Iāve said Iām reviewing this. I havenāt set up a team yet, but I have in mind having some colleagues help me pull all this information together and letting me know whether there are some areas that should be looked at.ā
The A.G. ends these comments by talking out of both sides of his mouth. He clarified to the committee āthis is not launching an investigation of the FBIā and, by extension, those āintelligence agencies more broadlyā, when to conduct a āreviewā of these agencies would be to conduct an investigation. It reminds me of a statement from the former F.B.I director James Comey said during his investigation of Hillary Clinton. āWeāre not conducting a āsecurity inquiryā,ā the director said at the time. āI donāt know what that means. Weāre conducting an investigation. Thatās the bureauās business. Thatās what we do. Itās in our name.ā
The Justice Department, as the name implies, investigates and enforces justice. Itās what they do. What remains unclear is the evidence to do this specifically. As highlighted by Slate, the A.G. was repeatedly asked by lawmakers across the divide on what basis he believes āillegal surveillanceā occurred during the 2016 election under the Obama administration. āI believe there is a basis for my concern, but Iām not going to discuss the basis,ā Barr told Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), the chairman of the subcommittee. Just a straightforward refusal to answer the question.
When Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) pressed on whether there was improper conduct into investigations of Trump campaign affiliates ā which include Carter Page, Paul Manafort Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos ā the A.G. once again refused to answer the question. āI have no specific evidence that I would cite right now,ā Barr admitted. āI do have questions about it.ā For context, Manafort, Flynn and Papadopoulos have all pleaded guilty to criminal charges, while Page has been featured in several Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants dating back several years.
According to the FISA warrants for Page ā which remains redacted ā the FBI has kept their eye on possible Russian efforts trying to ārecruit American operativesā since 2013. During this time, Page was suspected of being among those recruited, making his selection as a foreign policy adviser to the Trump presidential campaign suspicious. He was also listed within the Steele dossier, an opposition research document from former British spy Christopher Steele and funded by the Clinton campaign, which was reportedly used as evidence to obtain the FISA warrant after being approved by the 11 FISC judges necessary. At least one of the warrants was signed off by Rod Rosenstein, the current deputy AG. If spying occurred, it didnāt rise to the level of Trumpās twitter ramblings about an āillegal investigationā or Barrās waffled suggestions of wrongdoing.
āI am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016,ā Barr continued. āOne of the things I want to do is pull together all of the information from the various investigations that have gone on including on the Hill and in the Department and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed. There also can be abuses that may not arise to the level of a crime, but that people might think is bad and want to put in rules or prophylaxes against it. It doesnāt necessarily have to result in a criminal investigation or a finding of a crime.ā
While we should take a moment to appreciate this fair, nuanced approach to a possible investigation ā a rare occurrence among Trump officialsāthe DOJās decision to keep the public and their representatives in the dark as searches come for the administrationās political enemies only raises more ethical questions. Itās not outside the bounds of reason to say the Obama administration has committed atrocities.
Thereās the NSAās meta-data scandal (PRISM) leaked by Edward Snowden, thereās the arrest and torture of former military whistleblower Pvt. Chelsea Manning, and thereās also the administrationās secret wiretapping of foreign allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The idea of one government antagonising their electoral opposition, especially through surveillance, isnāt unreasonable. It just requires evidence to legitimise an investigation. Barr, however, is keeping the cards close to his chest as government prepare for another round robin of investigative politics.

Thanks for reading! This article was originally published for TrigTent.com, a bipartisan media platform for political and social commentary, truly diverse viewpoints and facts that donāt kowtow to political correctness.
Bailey Steen is a journalist, graphic designer and film critic residing in the heart of Australia. You can also find his work right here on Medium and publications such as Janks Reviews.
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