Lawmakers battle over Barr's spy claim

Lawmakers of both parties said Wednesday they were alarmed by Attorney General William Barr’s claim to a Senate committee that “spying did occur” on President Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“I thought it was a striking allegation to make because of the implication of the word spying,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Judiciary Committee that questioned Barr, told the Washington Examiner.

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee who has long believed Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russians, condemned Barr’s comment on Twitter.

“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.”

Coons and other Democrats said Barr’s claim raises questions, but does not necessarily mean the government was illegally spying on Trump's campaign.