(CNN) — Attorney General William Barr has assembled a team at the Justice Department to review how the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia began in 2016, according to a US official.

The news will likely be viewed as a welcome development to President Donald Trump, who as recently as last week, told reporters more should be done to look into the origins of the Russia probe.

It will also likely raise concerns of politicization of the department’s work as Democrats worry that Barr is bending to the President’s demands.

The official said Barr’s review is separate from the ongoing work being conducted by the Justice Department’s inspector general Michael Horowitz, but could not detail its precise scope nor explain how the work of US Attorney John Huber, who was also investigating surveillance matters, factors in at this stage.

The review was first reported by Bloomberg. Barr could address the issue further during questioning from lawmakers when he appears at Wednesday’s Senate appropriations hearing.

Barr briefly alluded to his own review on Tuesday during his House appropriations hearing, telling lawmakers, “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.”

He said Tuesday he expected Horowitz’s review, which includes the FBI’s process to obtain a surveillance warrant on former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page, will be completed in “May or June.”

The-CNN-Wire
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