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Justice Dept. asks watchdog to find out if FBI’s Russia probe was politically motivated

Click to play video: 'Trump demands probe into FBI’s surveillance of his campaign'
Trump demands probe into FBI’s surveillance of his campaign
WATCH: U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding an investigation into the FBI and the motivations for its probe into his election campaign in 2016. Jackson Proskow reports. – May 21, 2018

The Justice Department has asked its inspector general to determine whether there was any impropriety or political motivation in how the FBI conducted its counterintelligence investigation of persons suspected of involvement with Russian agents who interfered in the presidential election.

A department statement came Sunday after President Donald Trump tweeted that he would “demand” that the DOJ open an investigation into whether the FBI infiltrated his presidential campaign for political purposes. The president said he also wanted investigated whether any demands or requests for such action originated with the Obama administration.

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READ MORE: Donald Trump tweets that he wants Department of Justice to probe campaign surveillance

Trump has been promoting a theory about a possible FBI spy on the campaign, though his attorney has cast doubt on it.

The inspector general has already been examining FBI actions in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

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WATCH: What we learned from the first year of Mueller’s Russia investigation

Click to play video: 'What we learned from the first year of Mueller’s Russia investigation'
What we learned from the first year of Mueller’s Russia investigation

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