WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Tuesday he is still not fully convinced that the FBI acted without bias when it opened its 2016 investigation into links between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.

In his first interview since Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a scathing report that faulted the FBI for missteps in how it sought a wiretap on a former Trump campaign adviser, Barr said he still has doubts on the FBI’s motives to pursue what he called a “baseless” investigation.

“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Barr said on NBC News, noting the FBI committed “gross abuses” and its behavior was “inexplicable.”

“I think that leaves open the possibility that there was bad faith.”

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Lisa Lambert; editing by Grant McCool)