Trump and allies, including Attorney General William Barr, have questioned whether the Russians showed a preference for Trump in 2016. But the U.S. intelligence assessment released last week makes it clear that the Russians are doubling down on their pro- Trump efforts to undermine Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign.
The 2016 intelligence is among the issues being investigated by Durham, the Connecticut-based federal prosecutor who is leading a broad-based investigation into the Russia investigation.
It is a probe that has become increasingly politicized, in part because Trump and allies have sought to build expectations that Durham could deliver last-minute surprise findings to encourage the president to run for office.
“Bill Barr has a chance to be the greatest of all time,” Trump host Maria Bartiromo said. “But if he wants to be politically correct, then he will just be another man.”
Trump’s remarks came after Barr first said it was possible Durham’s work would continue last November, although Barr is urging to release at least some conclusions for the presidential election.
“We are all aware of the calendar and we will not do anything for the purposes of influencing an election, but we are trying to achieve some things before the election,” Barr told Conservative commentator Buck Sexton in an interview broadcast Wednesday.
Prior to his appointment as attorney general, Barr had made clear his skepticism about the 2016 investigation into the Trump campaign. Even when he was ready to conclude special advice from Robert Mueller, Barr investigated the appointment of a new investigator to verify the origin of the probe, which he believed was meritless.
His first choice to appoint Mukasey to lead the probe, a move not previously reported, would likely have drawn even more political controversy than the probe has already generated. Mukasey and Giuliani are former law partners and have worked together in recent years to represent Turkish clients.
Mukasey, in a telephone interview, said he and Barr discussed the possibility at the beginning of Barr last year about the possibility. “There was agreement agreement, that it was better to keep it within the justice department,” Mukasey said.
Mukasey published in 2018 an opinion column in USA Today criticizing Mueller’s investigation, asking to terminate it for “legal and political reasons.” The Department of Justice declined to comment.
While Barr has regularly discussed what he said were disturbing findings by Durham, the prosecutor himself did not say much about his investigation. It is not even clear that Durham, who is known for working slowly, can complete all parts of a complex probe before the election, as the president’s supporters want.
Barr, who initially said he expected Durham to finish his work this summer but also mentioned an early fall fall this fall, discussed possible delays, including trying to negotiate with witnesses, during a Fox News- interview that was broadcast Sunday.
“He’s careful and he’s about gathering all the evidence,” said Barr conservative host Mark Levin. “I think people need to realize that in this process the witnesses have lawyers. Sometimes they will not talk to you. They delay it sometimes, they will take the Fifth Amendment unless you give them immunity.”
Scope of the study
In addition to Barr, glimpses of the extent of the probe were evident from witnesses who were questioned.
According to witnesses, one of the problems Durham is investigating is whether Obama administration officials, including former CIA director John Brennan and James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, cracked down on intelligence to oust the then incoming president. damage.
Trump has long denied U.S. intelligence about Russia’s efforts to help him, in part because it implies the legitimacy of his 2016 victory, former administration officials have said.
Barr, in testimony from the House last month, said the premise of the 2016 FBI investigation into the Trump campaign was “false.” In Fox News interviews, he regularly described the investigation as “one of the biggest travesties in American history,” and accused the FBI of “attempting the presidency.”
Those views stand in contrast to a new assessment released last Friday.
William Evanina, director of the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, published an assessment of efforts by Russia, China and Iran to mediate in the 2020 elections. While the statement described a Chinese preference for Trump to lose reelection, it described an active Russian-linked disinformation campaign to harm Biden and encourage Trump.
Whatever Durham finds for the intelligence work in Russia’s Probe 2016, the current intelligence on 2020 supports the fact that the Russians see an advantage of a second term of Trump, say current and former US officials.
Durham has also investigated other aspects of the FBI’s work in 2016 and 2017, including whether a former FBI attorney criminal should be charged with altering a document that was used in preparation for a surveillance application filed with the court for foreign intelligence. The FISA warrants targeted at Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, contained serious errors and false statements, a general report of the inspector found.
After some delays due to the Covid shutdowns of the courts, Durham and his team of investigators have picked up the pace of their work, according to people informed about the investigation. Witnesses who have met with Durham have said there is no significant target for prosecution in the probe.
In recent weeks, James Baker, a former FBI attorney general during the Russia investigation, sat down with Durham’s team for an interview and was quickly brought back for follow-up questions, according to a person who was informed about the case.
A large jury in the federal court of Washington, which used Durham as part of its investigation, also returned the work, people familiar with the case said.
Some important interviews seem to be still in the works. Brennan and Clapper did not meet with Durham. A spokesman for Brennan said discussions were ongoing for an interview and that one issue remains that Brennan requires access to his papers from his time at the CIA, which has blocked the Trump administration.
Barr said in his Fox News interview this week that Durham’s work is also complicated by the sheer number of issues, including conspiracy theories, which he has been asked to address.
“There were a sprawling number of issues to look at here,” Barr Levin said, “and there were a lot of different conspiracy theories. Part of our responsibility is to look at all of these things, so we humans have these different theories. can assure have been looked after. ”
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