Former Massachusetts Gov. William WeldWilliam (Bill) WeldVermont governor, running for reelection, won’t campaign or raise money The Hill’s Campaign Report: Amash moves toward Libertarian presidential bid Libertarians view Amash as potential 2020 game changer for party MORE (R) argued Wednesday that it wasn’t “spying” when the FBI investigated the Trump campaign in 2016, breaking with Attorney General William BarrBill BarrMilley discussed resigning from post after Trump photo-op: report OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ MORE.

“The thing a couple weeks ago where [Barr] said if the FBI opens an investigation on a Trump organization, that’s ‘spying.’ That’s not spying,” Weld, who has launched a 2020 primary challenge against President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE, said during an interview on CNN’s “New Day.”

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“When an agency opens an investigation, it may be a lot of things, it may be bad news for the target. But it’s not spying. It’s just opening an investigation,” he added.

Barr said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last week that he believed the Trump campaign was spied on in 2016 and added that he needed to “explore” the issue.

“I think spying did occur,” Barr said. “But the question is whether it was adequately predicated, and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.”

He later attempted to clarify his statement before lawmakers, saying he was concerned “improper surveillance” may have occurred in 2016 and he was “looking into it.”

Trump has long called for a probe into the origins of the investigation of his 2016 campaign and has since seized on Barr’s remarks, which Democrats have called for the attorney general to walk back.

“There was absolutely spying into my campaign,” Trump told reporters last week. “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.”

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