Attorney General: FBI acted in ‘bad faith’ in probing Trump campaign’s links to Russia

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Stating the obvious is an act of heroism. “I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Bill Barr said. “I think there were gross abuses…and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”

Barr thinks FBI may have acted in ‘bad faith’ in probing Trump campaign’s links to Russia

“I think our nation was turned on its head for 3 years based on a bogus narrative,” said the attorney general in an exclusive interview with Pete Williams.

Barr says the evidence was ‘not sufficient’ to investigate Trump’s campaign

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By Pete Williams and Ken Dilanian, NBC News, December 10, 2019:

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr said he still believes the FBI may have operated out of “bad faith” when it investigated whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and he contends the FBI acted improperly by continuing the investigation after Donald Trump took office.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Barr essentially dismissed the findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general that there was no evidence of political bias in the launching of the Russia probe, saying that his hand-picked prosecutor, John Durham, will have the last word on the matter.

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Barr said. “I think there were gross abuses…and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”

“I think that leaves open the possibility that there was bad faith.”

Barr’s blistering criticism of the FBI’s conduct in the Russia investigation, which went well beyond the errors outlined in the inspector general report, is bound to stoke further controversy about whether the attorney general is acting in good faith, or as a political hatchet man for President Trump.

IG report on Russia probe finds errors but no bias; Barr disagrees
Dec. 10, 201902:11

Inspector General Michael Horowitz, after reviewing a million documents and interviewing 100 people, concluded that he “did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the decisions to open” the investigations into Trump campaign aides.

But Barr argued that Horowitz didn’t look very hard, and that the inspector general accepted the FBI’s explanations at face value.

“All he said was, people gave me an explanation and I didn’t find anything to contradict it…he hasn’t decided the issue of improper motive,” Barr said. “I think we have to wait until the full investigation is done.”

Barr said he stood by his assertion that the Trump campaign was spied on, noting that the FBI used confidential informants who recorded conversations with Trump campaign officials.

“It was clearly spied upon,” he said. “That’s what electronic surveillance is … going through people’s emails, wiring people up.”

Barr portrayed the Russia investigation as a bogus endeavor that was foisted on Trump, rather than something undertaken by career civil servants who were concerned about whether a foreign power had compromised a political campaign.

“From a civil liberties standpoint, the greatest danger to our free system is that the incumbent government use the apparatus of the state … both to spy on political opponents but also to use them in a way that could affect the outcome of an election,” Barr said. He added that this was the first time in history that “counterintelligence techniques,” were used against a presidential campaign.
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Barr said that presidential campaigns are frequently in contact with foreigners, contradicting the comments of numerous political professionals who have said for two years that there is rarely, if ever, a reason for a presidential campaign to be in touch with Russians.

But the biggest outrage, Barr said, is that the FBI’s “case collapsed after the election and they never told the court and they kept on getting these renewals.”

The inspector general report does not say the FBI’s Russia case collapsed after the election. It does say that the FBI interviewed some of the sources for the dossier written by a British operative who raised questions about his reporting. But by then, the investigation had moved well beyond anything in the dossier.

In indictments and the report written by special counsel Robert Mueller, prosecutors identified, by one count, 272 contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives, some of which have never been explained.

Mueller said he did not establish coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, but he also said the Trump team strategized about how to benefit from the fruits of Russia’s election interference, particularly the disclosures of hacked Democratic emails.

The recent trial of Trump operative Roger Stone showed the extent to which the Trump campaign was trying to get information from Wikileaks, which had been identified as working closely with Russian intelligence.

On Monday, Durham added his voice to Barr’s criticism of the IG report, saying, “Last month, we advised the inspector general that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the F.B.I. case was opened.”

Barr said Durham’s much-criticized statement was appropriate.

“It was necessary to avoid public confusion,” he said. “It was sort of being reported by the press that the issue of predication was sort of done and over. I think it was important for people to understand that Durham’s work was not being preempted and that Durham was doing something different.”

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taxpayer22
taxpayer22
4 years ago

IG says : the FBI is not evil, just incompetent… that should make the leftists feel better.

51 violations and 9 false statements (lies) to the FISA court..

tedlv
tedlv
4 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

They were just clerical errors. Nothing to see here. /S

taxpayer22
taxpayer22
4 years ago
Reply to  tedlv

IG report confirms the Muslim Communist (voted for Gus Hall) : Brennan lied through his teeth about the Steele Dossier, and ..

volksnut
volksnut
4 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

Precisely what it was intended to do – whitewash –

taxpayer22
taxpayer22
4 years ago
Reply to  volksnut

IG report confirms the Muslim Communist (voted for Gus Hall) : Brennan lied through his teeth about the Steele Dossier..

the IG only has responsibilities within the DOJ — while the Federal prosecutors like Barr have authority to conduct a much broader investigation..

John Acord
John Acord
4 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

Obviously,competency is not a requirement for advancement toth top ranks of the DOJ and FBI,only slavish loyalty to the Deep State is rewarded. I refer you to Sydney Powell’s seminal inside analysis in “License to Lie,” should you doubt my statement.

taxpayer22
taxpayer22
4 years ago
Reply to  John Acord

FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency holds a document to Exonerate General Flynn – refuses to release it… ~John Solomon: .

Sidney Powell revealed that former FBI lawyer Lisa Page EDITED General Mike Flynn’s 302 report (originally written by corrupt FBI agent Peter Strzok and mysterious FBI agent Joe Pientka, who *lost* the first one, this second one was months later ) , then lied to the DOJ about the edits.

The Deep State corruption continues.

AlgorithmicAnalyst
AlgorithmicAnalyst
4 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

Such editing can have serious consequences. Like the telegram that Bismarck edited that triggered the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

Laddyboy
Laddyboy
4 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

IS THAT ALL??? Oh right. You are talking about the FIB department – – NOT Con-gress!

AlgorithmicAnalyst
AlgorithmicAnalyst
4 years ago

Obama’s Deep State would disagree 🙂

Dennis
Dennis
4 years ago

“Bad faith” will also apply to the Democratic Party if the House votes for this nonsensical, unmeritorious impeachment. Though the bad faith of the FBI is related to there attempt at the political Trump campaign, the Bad faith of the Democratic Party will apply directly to the people of this country. They all need to be removed from government power, and we need term limits for our Congress.

Pray Hard
Pray Hard
4 years ago

The FBI is still Obama’s b*tch.

Drew the Infidel
Drew the Infidel
4 years ago

My suggestion is that IG Horowitz pick up a copy of “The Plot against the President” by Smith or “Witch Hunt” by Fox News’ Gregg Jarrett to get the story straight.

Having read both, it is interesting to note that there is not a single volume on the market today with an opposing viewpoint.

volksnut
volksnut
4 years ago

Seriously? ” Acting in good faith or a political hatchet man for the Pres ” They just don’t give up – Ever.There truly is no cure for the mental illness of liberalism.. ..

John Acord
John Acord
4 years ago

Let’s Never forget the DOJ and its agencies are nothing more than a vast criminal mafia that terrorizes the citizens of the USA and anyone else its tentacles can reach. The vast, horrendous crimes committed by the DOJ and FBI are whitewashed in the IG report. They Will Never be punished or for that matter prevented in the future. If the DOJ and the swamp can commit such crimes against the President of the United States then we all are potential victims. If you believe I am extremist or inaccurate then I invite you to read Sydney Powell’s seminal book,” Licensed to Lie,” that describes the many crimes she personally witnessed while a high-level attorney for the DOJ handling over 500 appeals before the 5th Circuit. She now represents General Flynn who was targeted and framed by the same characters whose coup d’etat against Trump we are presently witnessing.

John Acord
John Acord
4 years ago

I’ve been reading this IG Report. If I were a prosecutor I’d focus a lot of attention on Brennan, Ovommit’s Muslim CIA Director. He appears to be a very weak link, soft and fuzzy, and wholly incompetent, and the closest to Ovommit. Break him and he will pull the pillars down on Ovommit. Maybe a little water boarding? Shouldn’t take much and that gal Trump has running the CIA now is somewhat of an expert.

Laddyboy
Laddyboy
4 years ago

WOW!! HOODATHUNK directors who HATE TRUTH and the American way, would ever try to SLANDER a person who WILL EXPOSE their UNLAWFUL anti-Constitutional actions???

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