By John Ubaldi,
Speaking before a U.S. Senate committee, U.S. Attorney General William Barr dropped a bombshell by announcing during his testimony that the Trump campaign was spied on during the 2016 presidential campaign.
His testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee was supposed to focus on the State Departments budget, but quickly diverted to the special counsel’s Russian collusion investigation, just like his testimony previously before a House Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.
Attorney General to Review how Russian Collusion Investigation Began
During his questioning before the Senate, Barr testified, “As I said in my confirmation hearing, I am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016. And a lot of this has already been investigated, and a substantial portion of it has been investigated and is being investigated by the office of the Inspector General, but one of the things I want to do is pull everything together from the various investigations that have gone on, including on the Hill and in the [Justice] Department, and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed.”
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire questioned him on the need for such an investigation. Barr responded, “Well, you know, for the same reason we’re worried about foreign influence in elections, we want to make sure that during elections — I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. It’s a big deal.”
Trump Campaign Was Spied Upon
Pressing him further, Shaheen wanted to know if he believed spying of the Trump campaign had indeed occurred. Barr’s response, “Well, I guess — I think spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur.”
Further testimony elaborated by Barr was that he was not sure if it was adequately predicated or not but he will be reviewing it with some of his colleagues helping him analyze all relevant information and evidence to see if there were any nefarious actions taken by the DOJ & FBI to include the various intelligence agencies during this period.
A parallel investigation has been ongoing since last year by the Department of Justice Inspector-General Michael Horowitz’s who is reviewing all actions by the DOJ & FBI throughout the period of 2016 and 2017.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D., Va.) responded to Barr’s assertion by stating, “Mr. Barr knows how counter-intel investigations work. He knows there was ample evidence of Russian attempts to infiltrate the Trump campaign and that the FBI took lawful action to stop it. Giving a wink and a nod to this long-debunked “spying” conspiracy theory is irresponsible.”
What Role did the Obama Administration in Spying on the Trump Campaign?
Barr will now begin delving into the allegations that during the Obama administration had engaged in the surveillance of the opposing parties presidential nominee coupled with allegations that the DOJ & FBI had used an opposition research document which was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign, which was then used to gain a FISA warrant without disclosing its origins not once but on four separate occasions.
The other aspect Barr will be addressing is what role did U.S. intelligence agencies played in conducting surveillance on U.S. citizens namely Trump and his campaign?
- Why did Director of National Intelligence James Clapper along with the Director of the FBI James Comey allegedly orchestrate the public release of the various salacious claims against Trump?
- What role did former CIA Director John Brennan play in regard to the Russian dossiser?
- Did U.S. intelligence agencies improperly work with the FBI & DOJ to conduct surveillance on the trump campaign, even though federal law prevents intelligence agencies from conducting domestic surveillance?
- How and why did the original Russian collusion investigation start, what time frame did the investigation begin, we have been told July 2016, but evidence has surfaced that it began much earlier?
- We need to know how the DOJ, FBI and the intelligence agencies used the infamous Russian dossier complied by former British intelligence official who had been fired by the FBI for lying and leaking to the media who then worked for Fusion GPS .
DOJ & FBI Use Russian Dossier
Evidence has been released showing that Fusion GPS the originator of the opposition research document that was paid for by the Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee, subsequently used by the DOJ and FBI to obtain a FISA warrant to intercept the communications of Trump campaign associate Carter Page without ever informing the FISA judges of its origin, or who funded it, but never revealing that none of the salacious contents had ever been verified.
What needs to be investigated is what role did the Clinton campaign play in pushing the dossier to the FBI? Former FBI general counsel James Baker testified under oath that the Clinton campaign supporters and their surrogates told the FBI salacious information on numerous occasions regarding Russia-Trump conspiracies, from which Baker found “horrible” and “highly unusual.”
- Was the Obama administration involved, considering U.N. ambassador Samantha Power’s and National Security adviser Susan Rice had been unmasking Americans a record rate up until the very moment that Trump was sworn, and these names were leaked to the media.
Did President Obama Spy on Trump?
The major question that is alleged is that a Democratic presidential campaign and a Democratic president allegedly tried to have the FBI damage the credibility of a Republican presidential candidate and eventually the Republican president to possibly have him removed from office.
Barr testified that the Obama administration officials had spied on a Republican candidate for president campaign, the question as the Attorney General alluded to was it justified?
The other aspect of Barr’s testimony is that he would be reviewing what role the intelligence agencies played in the Russian collusion narrative. As we know that George Papadopoulos and Sam Clovis who were low-level Trump campaign officials that had been approached by foreign operatives with ties to the CIA in order to plant the illusion of Russian collusion.
Did the DOJ, FBI and Intelligence Agencies Violate the Constitution?
Barr will be looking into how the leadership of both the DOJ, FBI and intelligence agencies conducted themselves under the law with regard to the constitution during this investigation. During her sworn testimony before Congress FBI lawyer Lisa Page stated that the FBI failed to follow its own procedures counterintelligence operations, to warn the alleged subject in this case the Trump campaign of the nefarious actions of Russia because the bureau did not think the dossier was reliable enough to solicit a warning.
- If the dossier was not reliable enough to serve as a warning then why did the FBI & DOJ use this document to secure a FISA warrant to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign officials?
- Why did the FBI who normally brief Congress on sensitive counterintelligence operations, why was this not done in this case?
There are still numerous unanswered questions and hopefully after the release in May or June of the DOJ Inspector-General’s report on action taken by the DOJ & FBI we will begin to have a clearer picture begin to emerge on what transpired during this period.
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