Trump news: President admits he has not even read Mueller report, as key aide branded a 'scumbag'
Attorney General William Barr tells lawmakers he believes 'spying did occur' on the president's 2016 campaign
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has told reporters he had not seen or read a report produced by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Speaking on the White House lawn before departing for a trip to Texas, the president told media “I won” while claiming he did not care to read the conclusion from the special counsel’s findings.
His comments arrived as Attorney General William Barr arrived on Capitol Hill for another day of testimony in front of Congressional lawmakers, saying Wednesday he thinks “spying did occur” against the president’s 2016 campaign.
“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Mr Barr said, calling the type of spying he believed took place as “unauthorised.”
“Yes I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump's acting interior secretary, David Bernhardt, attempted to conceal meetings with fossil fuel lobbyists and representatives of timber, mining and other natural resources industries from his official schedule, according to reports.
The president was set to announce further bad news for environmentalists during a trip to Texas on Wednesday when he signs an executive order designed to make it harder for states to scuttle unwanted pipeline projects and other energy initiatives by denying permit permissions on water quality grounds - a loophole regularly exploited, according to Republicans.
And to cap it all off, the president is facing legal action from Warner Brothers after using an excerpt from composer Hans Zimmer's score for the Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises (2012) for a campaign video without permission.
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Here’s video of the moment Donald Trump tells reporters he has not seen or read the Mueller report, before departing from the White House on Wednesday:
US intelligence agencies spied on Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, Attorney General William Barr said during his Senate testimony on Wednesday. He added that he would be reviewing whether their surveillance was carried out legally.
"I think spying did occur," Mr Barr said. "But the question is whether it was adequately predicated and I am not suggesting that it wasn't adequately predicated. ... I am not suggesting those rules were violated, but I think it is important to look at that. And I am not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly."
"I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal - it's a big deal," he added.
Here's more from The Independent's US reporter Clark Mindock on William Barr's Senate testimony following the attorney general's statement on US intelligence agencies allegedly spying on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign:
William Barr just told senators he was not sure whether Special Counsel "supported my conclusion" in his four-page letter that essentially cleared Donald Trump of any criminal misconduct during the 2016 election or throughout the investigation.
It remains unclear what William Barr may be referring to by "spying" against Donald Trump's campaign in 2016, but it appears he is not referring to the FISA controversies that have been previously reported. The attorney general referred to the spying as "unauthorised" in a later statement to lawmakers clarifying his comments made earlier in the hearing.
The former acting solicitor general under Barack Obama has blasted William Barr’s testimony on Capitol Hill, claiming the attorney general was providing misleading information about the Justice Department’s position in opposition to the Affordable Care Act:
Top Democrat Adam Schiff has posted the following message slamming Donald Trump and the precedent his “profound attack on rule of law” could have on future presidencies:
Donald Trump has celebrated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election video with a tweet pointing out flags bearing his own name at the politician’s celebration:
Here’s video of Donald Trump defending his senior aide Stephen Miller, calling him an “excellent guy” and saying “people don’t know him”:
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