Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) accused Attorney General William Barr of acting like “Donald Trump’s mouthpiece” in a Thursday CNN interview after Barr suggested that there was “spying” on President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“If he wanted to be Michael Cohen’s replacement as Donald Trump’s mouthpiece, he should have applied for that job,” Kildee said of Barr.
Kildee particularly criticized Barr’s declaration that he would investigate whether U.S. officials were improperly “spying” on members of Trump’s campaign.
“It’s pretty shameful that he is willing to use language that he knows will be used by Donald Trump in a way that obviously mischaracterizes it,” Kildee said of Barr’s remark on the Justice Department’s probe. “He was playing to the audience just like so many of president Trump’s sycophants do.”
“I am going to be reviewing both the genesis and the conduct of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign during 2016,” Barr said while testifying before the Senate on Wednesday. “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”
Barr later sought to clarify his statement, saying he did not know if “improper surveillance” occurred,” but that he was looking into it.
Trump has since echoed Barr’s remark, saying Thursday that he believes there was “absolutely” spying on his campaign.
“There was absolutely spying into my campaign,” Trump said. “I’ll go a step further. In my opinion it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying and something that should never be allowed to happen in our country again.”