Former Attorney General Bill Barr on Friday attempted to distance itself from the Trump administration’s Justice Department, which was spying on at least two Democratic Congressmen. The DOJ has cited communications records from Democratic lawmakers, their staff, family members and at least one minor child, according to a New York Times report.
But Barr’s remarks might seem like a contradiction or an attempt to cover up.
In a telephone interview with Politico, Barr said that he “did not know that a congressman’s files were searched in a leak case” and that he “did not know who we were investigating in any of the cases”.
Politico Reports “Barr said that while he was attorney general, he ‘did not know that a congressman’s files were being searched in a leak case’. He added that Trump never encouraged him to focus on Democratic lawmakers, who were reportedly the target of the former president’s push to expose leaks of classified information.
Trump “was not in any of the cases aware of who we were looking at,” said Barr. “I never spoke to Trump about the leak cases. He didn’t really ask me for the details. “
Politico also spoke to Mary McCord, a professional attorney who headed the DOJ’s National Security Division.
“All I can say is that any investigation involving an elected official would be considered a sensitive matter that requires high-level approval from the department,” said McCord.
The Department of Justice’s inspector general announced on Friday that it would launch an investigation into espionage by the DOJ against prominent Democratic members of Congress during the Trump administration’s tenure.
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