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WASHINGTON (AP) – Attorney General William Barr has granted additional protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry, giving him the authority of a special advocate to complete the work without be easily returned.
Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he appointed U.S. attorney John Durham as special advocate in October under the same federal law that governed special advocate Robert Mueller in the original Russia investigation. He said the Durham Inquiry narrowed down to focus more on the conduct of FBI agents who worked on the investigation into Russia, known as the Crossfire Hurricane.
Under federal regulations, a special advocate can only be dismissed by the Attorney General and for specific reasons such as misconduct, dereliction of duty or conflict of interest. An attorney general must document these reasons in writing.
The investigation grew out of allegations of cooperation between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russians to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“I decided that the best thing to do would be to appoint them under the same rules as Bob Mueller, to give Durham and his team the confidence that they would be able to complete their work no matter what. election result, ”Barr said Tuesday.
Biden’s transition team did not immediately comment on the date.
The current investigation, a criminal investigation, had started very broadly but has since “shrunk considerably” and now “really focuses on the activities. of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation within the FBI, ”Barr said. He said he expects Durham to detail whether further prosecutions will be taken and will release a report on the investigation’s findings.
In an Oct. 19 order obtained by The Associated Press, Barr said that Durham is authorized to “investigate whether a federal official, employee or any person or entity has violated the law in connection with the activities of intelligence, counterintelligence or law enforcement ”. during the 2016 presidential campaigns, anyone associated with the campaigns or the Trump administration.
A senior Justice Department official told the AP that although the order states that it “includes, but is not limited to, Hurricane Crossfire and the investigation of Special Advocate Robert S. Mueller III ”, the Durham investigation did not expand. The official said this line was specifically for FBI personnel who had worked on the Russia investigation prior to Mueller’s appointment in May 2017, an area of critical oversight for both Durham and the ministry’s Inspector General. of Justice, which identified a series of errors and omissions in the monitoring. apps targeting a former Trump campaign associate.
The focus on the FBI, rather than the CIA and the intelligence community, suggests that Durham may have moved past some of the more inflammatory allegations that Trump supporters hoped would lead to allegations of misconduct, if not outright. crimes – namely, the question of how intelligence agencies came to the conclusion that Russia intervened in the 2016 elections.
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