Fox panel gets heated after co-host asks a simple question about Bill Barr's new investigation of the Russia probe

Attorney General Bill Barr recently appointed a federal prosecutor to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. But during a Fox News panel on Tuesday, liberal pundit Juan Williams wondered why the origin of the investigation was even in question.

"I'm a little confused. What is the wider scope? Because what everybody says is we are looking for the origin. We know the origin," he told his co-hosts on "Outnumbered." He added, "the origins are starkly clear to everybody."

Williams noted that the FBI had received tips from both Australia and the United Kingdom warning that Russian operatives were trying to influence the Trump campaign and the 2016 elections.

But his co-hosts were adamant that the Department of Justice needed to examine the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling.

"The people that have also been telling us about how the Russia investigation started are also the people that have lied before Congress and not exactly been truthful about all of this," said co-host Lisa Boothe.

"We also know that the FBI met with Christopher Steele prior to launching operation Crossfire Hurricane and we know that Christopher Steele had already started working on the dossier and had been hired by Fusion GPS. So we don’t actually know exactly how the FBI investigation started. Additionally, I would love to know about what the Obama Administration knew about this."

"Wait a second -- that was afterward," Williams interrupted.

"No, let me finish... It’s fact. Go look it up," Boothe shot back.

Watch video below: