Attorney General Barr slams FBI's Russia collusion investigation, disputes new IG report

Attorney General William Barr said in interviews Tuesday that the FBI's reasoning for investigating potential collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign was "flimsy," and suggested it was possibly carried out in "bad faith."

His comments come a day after the release of a Department of Justice inspector general report that found the Russia probe was flawed, but that there was no evidence of political bias behind it and its basis was justified. The finding debunks claims by Trump and Republican allies that he was targeted with a partisan investigation.

Speaking to NBC News, Barr said "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."

The DOJ report sought to get to the bottom of the opening of the Russia investigation, and answer the questions: Was the FBI's wiretapping of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page legal, and was the FBI justified in launching its investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian interference?

IG report: FBI wiretap of Trump campaign aide was riddled with errors, but Russia probe was legally justified

Barr took particular issue with the evidence the FBI used to obtain a court order for the surveillance. The IG report found the FBI omitted information when it relied on findings collected by Christopher Steele in a now-famous "dossier." That information did not influence the investigation's opening, however.

"I think there were gross abuses …and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI," Barr said. "I think that leaves open the possibility that there was bad faith."

But Barr also said that he doesn't know what the underlying motivations for the FBI probe were, speaking at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council event, and called it a "travesty."

He has repeated his assertion that the Trump campaign was spied on: "That's what electronic surveillance is … going through people's emails, wiring people up."

"I think probably from a civil liberties standpoint, the greatest danger to our free system is that the incumbent government used 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 the election," Barr said Tuesday.

"I think when you step back here and say what was this all based on, it's not sufficient," Barr said, adding that there "never has been, any evidence of collusion, and yet this campaign and the president's administration has been dominated by this investigation into what turns out to be completely baseless."

Trump told reporters that the details of the report were "far worse than anything I even would've imagined." He called the FBI's actions an "attempted overthrow" of government.

Democrats took Barr's comments as evidence that he is operating as a mouthpiece for Trump. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Barr is "only interested in promoting Trump’s personal interests."

"The IG is independent, and shielded from political influence. His investigation found no evidence that bias affected the opening of the case," Schiff tweeted.

Barr is overseeing a parallel investigation of the FBI probe, led by John Durham, who expressed disagreement with some of the IG report's findings. Barr said that it is too soon to make a final judgement and "Durham is able to look at all the evidence."

Contributing: Kevin Johnson and Kristine Phillips, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AG William Barr slams FBI Russia investigation, contradicts IG report