GOP stepping up investigations… And here comes AG Barr!
Sorry if duplicated, but I didn't see this in the bread.
ARTICLE BEGINS HERE:
GOP lawmakers returning to Washington are signaling they intend to step up their campaign to look into alleged spying by FBI agents on President Trump's 2016 campaign. The effort comes as Democrats ramp up their own investigations into the Trump administration and could serve as a bit of GOP counter-programming to put the spotlight on what Republicans contend is suspicious behavior under the Obama administration. Two Senate chairmen previewed the coming GOP efforts with a recent letter to Attorney General William Barr, who raised eyebrows when he publicly asserted he believed the Trump campaign was spied on and said he would review the intelligence community's actions to ensure no improper surveillance occurred.
Democrats were surprised and angered Barr used the word "spying" to describe surveillance that FBI did during their investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, accusing him of promoting a GOP talking point. In a letter sent to the attorney general on Thursday, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) asked the Justice Department for a briefing on Barr's review and cited text messages between former FBI officials Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page that they described as exhibiting "potential attempts by the FBI to conduct surveillance of President-elect Trump's transition team."
"Any improper FBI surveillance activities that were conducted before or after the 2016 election must be brought to light and properly addressed," wrote Grassley and Johnson, who chair the Finance and Homeland Security Committees, respectively. They also raised concerns about potentially unauthorized Justice Department leaks to the press about the Russia investigation. Lawmakers on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will have an opportunity to grill Barr in back-to-back open hearings this week, as he testifies on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and final report, a redacted version of which Barr released roughly a week ago. Barr is expected to face considerable scrutiny from Democrats who accuse him of bias in his handling of Mueller's report, which did not establish conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and Russia but explicitly did not exonerate the president on allegations of obstruction. The attorney general is also likely to be questioned by Republicans about his plans to review the decisions in the FBI's original Russia counterintelligence probe.
"I have loads of questions for Barr about origination of the spying and DOJ leaders' role in the spying," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Hill Friday, adding that he has "lots of questions" following the release of Mueller's report.
Republicans have long suggested FBI agents were politically motivated in opening the investigation into the Trump campaign, citing text messages exchanged by officials that worked on the Russia and Clinton email investigations in which they criticized Trump's candidacy. House Republicans led an investigation into the FBI's handling of the Russia and Clinton probes that was quietly shuttered last year, shortly before Democrats took control of the lower chamber. GOP lawmakers have also alleged the FBI abused its surveillance authorities by relying on information from the author of the controversial Trump-Russia dossier, which was in part funded by Democrats, to justify a surveillance renewal application to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Democrats have roundly rejected Republicans' claims, accusing them of trying to undermine Mueller's investigation, which concluded in March after 22 months. The Justice Department's inspector general is currently investigating the FBI's compliance with the law and procedures with respect to the Page warrant application, a review Barr expects to be completed as soon as next month. Barr said in congressional testimony earlier in April that he plans to initiate his own review of the "genesis and the conduct" of intelligence collection directed at members of the Trump campaign based on what Inspector General Michael Horowitz finds; Barr said it was important to determine whether the surveillance was "adequately predicated."
Rest of article here…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-ready-to-step-up-spying-case/ar-BBWnQFj?li=BBnb7Kz