╌>

John Durham Used Sketchy Russian Intel in Probe: Report - Rolling Stone

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  jbb  •  last year  •  1 comments

By:   Nikki McCann Ramirez (Rolling Stone)

John Durham Used Sketchy Russian Intel in Probe: Report - Rolling Stone
A New York Times report indicates that Special Counsel John Durham and Attorney General Bill Barr may have abused their investigative powers.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



A new investigation from The New York Times has found the John Durham investigation, which was lauded by Republicans, was a total mess

By Nikki McCann Ramirez

  • Bill Barr's Handpicked Prosecutor Relied on Russian Intel John-Durham.jpg?w=1581&h=1054&crop=1 Special Counsel John Durham, who then-United States Attorney General William Barr appointed in 2019 after the release of the Mueller report to probe the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, departs after his trial recessed for the day at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on May 25, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Earlier this month, Kevin McCarthy announced the creation of a new "Weaponization of the Federal Government" select committee aimed at investigating overreach by the Justice Department. One case that House Republicans are likely to ignore is Special Counsel John Durham's probe into the Russia investigation, despite The New York Times reporting on Thursday that Durham and former Attorney General Bill Barr, who appointed him, may have abused their investigative powers in a litany of ways, including by using sketchy Russian intelligence to gain access to the emails of an aide to Hungarian billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of right-wing conspiracies.

Durham was tasked by Barr in 2019 with overseeing a DOJ investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia Investigation, particularly the credibility of intelligence reports upon which the investigation was based. According to the Times , at one point in the investigation Durham seized on dubious Russian intelligence memos in order to target Leonard Benardo, the executive vice president of Soros' Open Society Foundations.

The memos, which were provided to the CIAby Dutch intelligence partners, suggested that Benardo had emailed Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) to discuss a promise from former Attorney General Loretta Lynch to obstruct probes into the 2016 hack of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's hacked emails. Both Benardo and Wasserman Schultz deny such a conversation ever took place.

According to interviews conducted by the Times, despite significant factual inconsistencies in the memos being raised by investigators, the special counsel reportedly went to great lengths to obtain information on the contents of Benardo's emails. When a Judge struck down a request from his office to access the information, citing a lack of evidence compelling enough to overwrite privacy laws, Durham reportedly attempted to circumvent her decision through a grand jury. While the Times was unable to ascertain if Benardo was subpoenaed by Durham, he did voluntarily provide the special counsel with the requested information.

The matter proved fruitless.

Circumventing judicial rulings in an attempt to establish a connection between the Clinton email investigation and George Soros isn't the only potential ethical breach uncovered by the Times. Barr and Durham quietly expanded — then dropped — an investigation into potentially criminal "suspicious financial dealings related to Mr. Trump" in 2019. The Times also confirmed that several sudden resignations from members of the investigative teams stemmed from ethics concerns regarding flimsy criminal indictments.

Barr was installed as attorney general shortly after Trump fired his then AG Jeff Sessions, ostensibly for failing to act on his complaints regarding Special Counsel Robert Muller's investigation into his relationship with Russia.

Trending


TikTok's Eyelash Controversy Is Really About Truth in Advertising


Georgia Governor Declares State of Emergency, Activates 1,000 National Guard Troops


Randy Gonzalez, Father in TikTok Duo Enkyboys, Dead at 35


Rick Astley Hits Yung Gravy With Lawsuit, Alleges Voice Imitation


Durham's three-and-a-half year probe has shown itself to be primarily a giant waste of time and resources. It's the exact type of partisan witch hunt one might think a House committee on the "Weaponization of the Federal Government" might want to investigate, but Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who will run the subcommittee is unlikely to bring it to the table. Jordan, a devout Trump loyalist, repeatedly lauded the Durham investigation, and publicly affirmed his belief that the probe would result in criminal penalties for those under Barr and Durham's scrutiny.

Jordan told Fox Newsost Sean Hannity on Tuesday that as Judiciary Committee Chair he will continue to probe allegations of corruption in the Justice Department and FBI as related to the Russia probe. "The highest levels of the FBI are now functioning in a political fashion," he said.


Tags

jrDiscussion - desc
[]
 
JBB
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JBB    last year

No Shit!

 
 

Who is online









76 visitors