The CIA and the Director of National Intelligence collaborate with Attorney General Barr to examine the origin of the probe in Russia

by



[ad_1]

Barr is working closely with CIA Director Gina Haspel, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray, the source said.

There had been speculation as to why Haspel had been seen at the Ministry of Justice in recent weeks. Wray testified last week that he was assisting Barr.

Trump has often called on the Justice Department and other people to consider how the FBI had begun to investigate the link between his campaign and Russia's interference in the 2016 election. He told reporters Tuesday that he had not asked Barr to appeal to the intelligence services for him to associate with his report on the investigation conducted in Russia .

"I did not ask him to do that," Trump told the White House before leaving for Louisiana. "I did not know."

"But I think it's a good thing that he did, I saw him last night and they want to see how all this hoax started," he said. . "You know what? I'm so proud of our Attorney General, that he's looking into it. I think it's great."

As previously reported by CNN, US lawyer John Durham, Connecticut, is leading the effort with Barr. The source said Durham and Barr were doing a thorough review. Durham also collaborated with the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, Michael Horowitz.
At a hearing last month, Barr said, "I think espionage actually took place" during the Trump campaign, but refused to develop his concerns.

"I think spying on a political campaign is a big problem" Barr told Congress then.

He then defended the term, asserting at a separate hearing that he had used it because "it is the broadest word that actually encompasses all forms of intelligence gathering." secret ".

"Many people seem to assume that the only intelligence gathering that has been conducted is a single confidential informant and a FISA warrant," Barr said, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month. "I would like to know if that is true, in fact, that seems to me to be a fairly anemic effort in that it was a counterintelligence effort designed to put an end to it." to the threat as it is represented. "

US lawyer John Huber, Utah, is no longer involved in Russian affairs. Huber had originally been charged with reviewing allegations of supervisory abuse by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but he has been waiting since the Inspector General completed his review of the FBI's monitoring mandate from Trump's foreign policy advisor, Carter Page.

Huber's review of other issues related to Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation is nearing completion, the source said.

The DNI and the CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill have repeatedly stated – without evidence – that a warrant obtained in 2016 to allow the FBI to monitor Page constituted evidence of oversight by the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Conservative critics of Special Advocate Robert Mueller asserted that his work stemmed from the fruit of a poisoned tree, suggesting that the FISA warrant application was tainted because it contained part of the record constituted by British spy retired Christopher Steele paid by the Democrats. They also point to the fact that the FBI used an informant to meet with the former Trump campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos.

Democrats, however, say that FISA's mandate was justified because of his contacts with Russia and that the FBI and the Justice Department had followed proper protocols to have the Foreign Intelligence Oversight Court approve the mandate and subsequent renewals.

This story has been updated.

CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link