Did the FBI “Spy” On the Trump Campaign – And Was It Justified?

Before Attorney General William Barr releases the redacted report from Special Counsel William Mueller on Thursday, let me comment on the furor he caused last week when he told a Senate committee that he was going to have the Justice Department investigate whether the “spying” by the Justice Department on the Trump campaign during the 2016 campaign was, in his words, “adequately predicated.”  Attorney General Barr said, “I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” and he said he wants to make sure there was a legitimate reason for it.

A number of Democrats went ballistic.  Even though Attorney General Barr merely said he was going to have the Justice Department investigate whether there was an adequate basis for the surveillance, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going off the rails.”  The head of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said that Attorney General Barr’s comments struck “another destructive blow to our democratic institutions.”

It’s important to repeat that Attorney General Barr wasn’t saying there were violations.  He just wants to know why normal procedures weren’t followed, and he wants to make sure there were good reasons for what was done.  But for the Democrats, “Trump” is the answer, and justification, for everything.  They can’t seem to think past their dislike (and more) for President Trump to think about what kind of precedent may have been created here.  If the FBI could investigate the 2016 Trump campaign this way, why couldn’t they investigate some Democratic campaign in 2020 or 2024?  Saying that “Because Trump is bad and we’re not” isn’t an answer.

One more thing I don’t understand about the Democrats’ reaction to Attorney General Barr’s statement: Do they really think that, at this stage of his life and career, Attorney General Barr is going to sacrifice his honor and reputation for Donald Trump?  Some of them probably do.  Some of them probably think he has already has.  But that’s their Trump Derangement Syndrome talking.¹  Attorney General Barr didn’t take this job to protect President Trump.  He’s been Attorney General before.  He didn’t need the job, or the hassle, for his resume.  He took this job because he felt it was his duty – for his country.
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¹ The thing that concerns me most about the way some Democrats react to President Trump, i.e., their Trump Derangement Syndrome, is that it is going to help get him reelected – because the way they react to President Trump may seem excessive to the people who voted for President Trump in 2016 and who are, after all, the people the Democrats need to convert if President Trump is not going to be reelected in 2020.