U.S. Attorney John Durham is reportedly wrapping up his investigation into the origins of the Russian collusion probe. But according to Fox News sources, he still has several avenues of inquiry open, which may mean that any report on his findings will be delayed until after the election.
Durham was chosen by Attorney General William Barr to conduct an investigation into the origins of the FBI, CIA, and Department of Justice probe into alleged collusion by Russia with the Trump campaign. Special Counsel Robert Mueller examined the allegations and found no evidence of collusion.
Donald Trump and some members of Congress question why the Justice Department proceeded on such flimsy and unsubstantiated rumors as were contained in the so-called Steele dossier that alleged close cooperation between the Trump campaign and Moscow. That dossier was seen almost immediately as Russian disinformation, but the FBI was able to use it to order top-secret surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Durham has kept whatever he’s discovered in his investigation under wraps — no leaks, very little comment to the media. Contrast that with the media circus surrounding the Muller investigation and it makes the entire affair stink even more.
Some Republicans are pushing for the probe to come to a conclusion soon. Earlier this week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said it was “SAD” that Attorney General Bill Barr and Durham could wait until after Election Day to initiate prosecutions.
“@realDonaldTrump #CommonSense IF NO PROSECUTIONS TIL AFTER ELECTIONS SAD SAD //just think Flynn Mueller Impeachment/ The deep state is so deep that ppl get away w political crimes/Durham shld be producing some fruit of his labor [sic],” Grassley tweeted.
Grassley added: “Barr recently said ‘this is the closest we have ever come to an organized effort to push a president out of office ‘ leads me to think Durham wont report any prosecutions til after election so as not influence vote. SAD SAD.”
Barr gave some hints of what Durham is looking at in an interview with Fox.
“I think before the election, I think we’re concerned about the motive force behind the very aggressive investigation that was launched into the Trump campaign without, you know, with a very thin, slender reed as a basis for it,” Barr told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “It seemed that the bureau was sort of spring-loaded at the end of July to drive in there and investigate a campaign.”
But, Barr later announced in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that Durham’s investigation of the Russia probe’s origins will likely yield “developments” before summer is over, despite delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s the bottom line. Before proceeding against mobsters or terrorists, the FBI is always on firm ground, with most of their ducks in a row. But they launched a full-blown, maximum-effort investigation into a presidential campaign basically on the say-so of a British spy who claimed sources in the Russian government.
Something isn’t adding up and Durham is digging hard trying to get to the bottom of it.
The rest of the media couldn’t care less. “Nothing to see here, move along” appears to be their attitude. This has the potential to be one of the biggest political stories in history and the media’s incurious attitude betrays rancid partisanship unworthy of the supposed “gatekeepers” of democracy.
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