Attorney General William Barr has appointed a U.S. attorney to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate,” a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.
Barr appointed John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to conduct the inquiry, the person said. The person could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Durham’s appointment comes about a month after Barr told members of Congress he believed “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016. He later said he didn’t mean anything pejorative and was gathering a team to look into the origins of the special counsel’s investigation.
Barr provided no details about what “spying” may have taken place but appeared to be alluding to a surveillance warrant the FBI obtained on a former Trump associate, Carter Page, and the FBI’s use of an informant while the bureau was investigating former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.
Trump and his supporters have seized on both to accuse the Justice Department and the FBI of unlawfully spying on his campaign.
The inquiry, which will focus on whether the government’s methods to collect intelligence relating to the Trump campaign were lawful and appropriate, is separate from an investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general. The agency’s watchdog is also examining the Russia probe’s origins and Barr has said he expects the watchdog report to be done in May or June.
Congressional Republicans have also indicated they intend to examine how the investigation that shadowed Trump’s presidency for nearly two years began and whether there are any legal concerns.
The recently concluded investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller did not find a criminal conspiracy between the campaign and the Kremlin to tip the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Durham is a career prosecutor who was nominated for his post as U.S. attorney in Connecticut by Trump. He has previously investigated law enforcement corruption, the destruction of CIA videotapes and the Boston FBI office’s relationship with mobsters.
In nominating him, the White House said Durham and other nominees for U.S. attorney jobs share Trump’s vision for “making America safe again.”
Durham was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2018. At the time, Connecticut’s two Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, called Durham a “fierce, fair prosecutor” who knows how to try tough cases.
In addition to conducting the inquiry, Durham will continue to serve as the chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut.
(AP)
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6 Responses
Way to go
Fight fire with fire
He would be better off picking a respected Democrat as a special prosecutor.
He could super-clever and issue a set of instructions on what is and is not prohibited, and thereby depoliticize the matter. It isn’t at all clear that a foreign political party getting involved in our political processes is illegal (and the same goes for American political parties getting invovled in foreign elections). Plenty of Americans try to affect the outcome of Israeli elections, and none have been prosecuted, yet. Political behavior by FBI personnel (taking the Russian dossier from the Democrats and submitting an affidavit to the secret intelligence court that this is proven truth, in order to spy on the Trump campaign while really looking for political intelligence) is really an internal matter of the FBI that should result in employees getting punished as no one has alleged that Hillary was behind it.
YWN – you bombed again with your headline. Gloating about “payback?” In a country founded on the rule of impartial law? Barr is undoubtedly doing this at the request (demand?) of the person in the White House. Whether or not he conducts it according to law and not New York mob “ethics” will be a supreme test of his character. I hope he passes.
This is something that Jeff Sessions should of done from day one. Thank god he’s gone. We finally have an Attorney General who is doing what he is being paid to do.
It is funny how now Democrats, including some who comment on this site, suddenly care about rule of law. They all were cheering Deep State witch-hunt based on Russia Collusion lies, but now when it is a time to pay the price for their crimes Democrats want to play by “rule of impartial law”. Is’t it a bit hypocritical and hysterical, Midwest2 ?
mr.barr can be referred to as finally an adult in the room!