by Daveda Gruber:
Now that Robert Mueller’s Russian Probe has ended, some are excited to hear the news that an investigation is underway to examine the investigation.
It was a matter of time, but I knew that it would be coming. Attorney General William (Bill) Barr had assigned John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to conduct the inquiry into the alleged misconduct and alleged improper government surveillance on the Trump campaign in 2016.
Also being investigated is if any Democrats were the ones who improperly colluded with foreign actors.
Durham is known as a “hard-charging, bulldog” prosecutor or so sources have called him. He’s been alleged to have been working on his review for weeks now.
The story being revealed is that Barr is working “collaboratively” on the investigation with a few others. They include FBI Director Chris Wray, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
Durham is working directly with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Horowitz is currently reviewing allegations of misconduct of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants that were issued. He is also looking into the role of FBI informants during the early stages of the investigation.
Durham will focus on the period before Nov. 7, 2016 which includes the use and assignments of FBI informants and alleged improper issuance of FISA warrants.
On Tuesday President Trump praised Barr for appointing Durham although he claims that he did not request that Barr do so.
On Tuesday Trump told reporters from the White House lawn, “I think it’s a great thing that he did it. I am so proud of our attorney general that he’s looking into it.”
Barr testified on April 9 and said, “I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and trying to get my arms around the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted in the summer of 2016.”
Barr had assembled a “team” to investigate the origins of the investigation and it has been alleged that Durham had been working on the investigation for weeks but it is not known if he was part of the original team assembled by Barr last month.
In fact, Barr’s appointment of Durham comes after he testified last month that he believed that “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016.
Barr said, “I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated…Spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”
Barr did later clarify in the hearing when he said, “I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred; I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it, that’s all.”
Back to Durham. In his career Durham has led numerous public corruption probes. This includes organized crime, government misconduct and financial fraud matters.
Durham was appointed by AG Janet Reno in 1999. He was appointed to investigate law enforcement corruption in Boston. Under AG Eric Holder, Durham was selected to investigate matters relating to the destruction of videotapes by the CIA and the treatment of detainees by the CIA.
On paper Durham looks like the right man for this new investigation. Will Durham be the man to lead to the arrest of those who have escaped justice, so far? Only time will tell but if I were to bet on this, I’d be betting against Democrats at this time.
Maybe the D.C. Swamp will finally start to get drained? I’ll be paying attention.
