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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/...t-together-team-review-how-russia-probe-began

Barr Follows GOP’s Lead, Puts Together Team To Review How Russia Probe Began

Attorney General William Barr told a House panel on Tuesday that he put together a team to look at how the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian interference started in the summer of 2016. The inquiry is separate from the Justice Department’s inspector general probe on the matter, a source told Bloomberg News.

“I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around all the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted during the summer of 2016,” Barr told the House panel on Tuesday.

The move indicates Barr is following Republicans’ lead on the matter. GOP lawmakers have been pursuing the idea — that the Russia probe was born out of an anti-Trump bias within the FBI and DOJ — for more than a year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other prominent Republicans have already indicated plans to launch new probes into how the investigation started, once the furor over the impending release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report has cooled.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/world-news/netanyahu-election-victory-palestine-annexation

Netanyahu Appears To Win 5th Term, Raising Palestinian Fears Of Annexation

JERUSALEM (AP) — Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be headed toward a historic fifth term as Israel’s prime minister on Wednesday, with close-to-complete unofficial election results giving his right-wing Likud and other nationalist and religious parties a solid majority in parliament.

The outcome affirmed Israel’s continued tilt to the right and further dimmed hopes of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Re-election will also give Netanyahu an important boost as he braces for the likelihood of criminal charges in a series of corruption scandals.

With 97.4% of the vote counted, Likud and its traditional political allies were in command of a 65-55 majority in parliament. A couple of small parties were still teetering along the electoral threshold and fighting for their survival, so the final makeup of the next parliament has yet to be decided. Final results were expected Thursday.

Two of his potential allies, hawkish former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and economic-centric Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, have yet to formally confirm they would sit with Netanyahu and could emerge as wildcards. In any case, the country now faces what could be weeks of political negotiations over the composition of a ruling coalition.

But under nearly every scenario, Netanyahu was the big winner.

The long-time Israeli leader had fought a tight, ugly race against centrist ex-military chief Benny Gantz, whose nascent Blue and White party emerged as a viable alternative to Netanyahu’s decade in power. The near-final results showed it deadlocked with Likud at 35 seats. But most of its support seems to have come at the expense of the venerable Labor and leftist Meretz parties, who both earned historic lows in Tuesday’s election.

Together with his current Jewish ultra-Orthodox and nationalist partners, Netanyahu seemed to have a clear path toward building a coalition government that has a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

With a victory, Netanyahu would capture a fourth consecutive term and fifth overall, which this summer will make him Israel’s longest-ever serving leader, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion.

“It’s a night of tremendous victory,” Netanyahu told supporters early Wednesday. “I was very moved that the nation of Israel once again entrusted me for the fifth time, and with an even greater trust.”

He said he had already begun talking to fellow right wing and religious parties about forming a new coalition.

“I want to make it clear, it will be a right-wing government, but I intend to be the prime minister of all Israeli citizens, right or left, Jews and non-Jews alike,” he said.

Netanyahu’s message of unity was a sharp contrast from his campaign theme in which he accused Gantz of conspiring with Arab parties to topple him. Arab leaders accused Netanyahu of demonizing the country’s Arab community, which is about 20 percent of the population.

His attacks on the Arab sector fueled calls for a boycott and appeared to result in relatively low turnout by Arab voters.

Overnight, with fewer of the votes counted, Blue and White still appeared to be ahead by one seat and Gantz projected optimism that he would be tasked with building a coalition. But by morning, he seemed to have realized his dream of becoming prime minister was lost, even if he didn’t formally concede defeat.

“Though the skies appear gloomy, nothing is final. There could be changes and some political options could open up,” he wrote to his supporters. “Our voters asked for hope and we gave it to them. They wanted a different way and we outlined it.”

Though the Palestinian issue was rarely mentioned in the raucous campaign, Netanyahu had in the final stretch pledged for the first time to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in a desperate bid to rally his right-wing base. Netanyahu has welched on election eve promises before, but should he follow through on this one, it would mark a dramatic development and potentially wipe out the already diminishing hope for Palestinian statehood.

An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the outcome of the election raised Palestinian fears about an Israeli annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank. Ahmed Majdalani said Palestinians will seek the help of the international community to try to block any such plans. He said that the outcome of the election means a boost for what he called the “extreme right-wing camp” in Israeli politics.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said Israel chose to entrench “the status quo of oppression, occupation, annexation and dispossession.”

The 69-year-old Netanyahu has been the dominant force in Israeli politics for the past two decades and its face to the world. His campaign has focused heavily on his friendship with President Donald Trump and his success in cultivating new allies, such as China, India and Brazil.

But his corruption scandals created some voter fatigue. Along with two other former military chiefs on his ticket, Gantz was able to challenge Netanyahu on security issues, normally the prime minister’s strong suit, while also taking aim at the prime minister’s alleged ethical lapses.

Israel’s attorney general has recommended charging Netanyahu with bribery, breach of trust and fraud in three cases and a potential fourth case emerged during the campaign. He will only decide on indicting Netanyahu after a legally mandated hearing. Legal experts expect at least some charges to be filed, which could set the stage for a short term in office for Netanyahu and another round of elections soon.

“This is a clear beginning of Netanyahu’s fifth term, but his fifth term might end up being his shortest one”, says Reuven Hazan, a political scientist from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. “In another year, we might be in a battle for either leadership of the Likud or another election.”
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckr...pying-did-occur-intel-agencies-trump-campaign

Barr Says He Thinks ‘Spying Did Occur’ By Intel Agencies On Trump’s Campaign

Attorney General William Barr said he thinks that “spying did occur” by intelligence agencies on the Trump campaign in 2016 during an appearance Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Barr was elaborating on his intent to investigate the “genesis and conduct” of intelligence activities directed at the Trump campaign in 2016.

“There were a lot of rules put in place to make sure that there’s an adequate basis before our law enforcement agencies get involved in political surveillance,” he said, referring to his upbringing in the Vietnam era. “I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated but I think it’s important to look at that. And I’m not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking Democrat on the committee, pushed back. “You’re not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?”

Barr stuttered and paused for a few seconds. “I think spying did occur, yes,” he said. “I think spying did occur.”

“The question was whether it was predicated, adequately predicated,” he added. “I’m not suggesting that it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that. I think it’s my obligation.”

Barr’s comments followed a report that the attorney general was putting together a team to review the counterintelligence decisions made by the Justice Department and FBI while they were investigating Russian election meddling and the Trump campaign.

When questioned later on in the hearing by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Barr said that he is “not putting together a panel” to investigate the intelligence agencies’ activities.

Towards the end of the hearing, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) gave Barr a chance to rephrase his “spying” comment. Barr largely demurred, offering up “unauthorized surveillance” as a description of what he was investigating.

This word choice seems to shed some light on what intelligence activity Barr is referring to that he intends to investigate. FISA warrants would qualify as court-authorized surveillance, so the FISA warrant on Carter Page would not qualify — the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court granted the FBI authorization for the warrant. Page had also already left the campaign by that point.

President Donald Trump and co. have frequently pointed to the Page FISA warrant as evidence of the “witch hunt” intended to fell his candidacy.

Barr added that he had “no specific evidence” to cite about any spying that occurred.

He asked to enter a point of further clarification into the hearing a few questions later.

“I want to make it clear, thinking back on all the different colloquies here that I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred,” Barr said. “I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it. That’s all.”
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/top-dems-up-in-arms-over-barr-spying-comment

Top Democrats Up In Arms Over Barr’s ‘Spying’ Comment


Attorney General William Barr’s comment that he thinks “spying did occur” by intelligence agencies on the Trump campaign quickly reverberated outside the Senate committee hearing room, raising the hackles of top Democrats.

“The top law enforcement officer of the country should not casually suggest that those under his purview engaged in ‘spying’ on a political campaign,” House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a statement. “This type of partisan talking point may please Donald Trump, who rails against a ‘deep state coup,’ but it also strikes another destructive blow to our democratic institutions.”

Schiff’s fellow chairman Jerry Nadler (D-CA), head of the House Judiciary Committee, also immediately expressed his displeasure.

Barr somewhat softened his comment later on in the hearing, reclassifying “spying” as “unauthorized surveillance” which would rule out the FISA warrant of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

He said he had “no specific evidence” of spying to reference
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