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The US lawyer charged with investigating the origins of the investigation into Russia is working on his case "for weeks," said Tuesday to Fox News a person familiar with this process.
Fox News reported on Monday that Attorney General Bill Barr instructed John Durham, the US attorney in Connecticut, to investigate allegations of improper conduct and inappropriate government oversight of the Trump campaign during of the 2016 presidential election, as well as to determine if Democrats were Democrats. those who have abused connivance with foreign actors.
BARR CONVOOLS CONNECTICUT AMERICAN ATTORNEY TO MONITOR GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE INVOLVING TRUMP CAMPAIGN
According to a source, Durham, known as prosecutor "accuser, bulldog", will focus on the period prior to November 7, 2016, including on the use and summoning of FBI informants, as well as on the alleged illegal issuance of foreign surveillance. Law (FISA) mandates.
Mr. Barr first announced that he was reviewing the "unfolding" of the initial investigation conducted by the FBI in Russia during the summer of 2016, as a result of calls launched by Republicans and President Trump to investigate the origins of the investigation.
"I am reviewing the conduct of the investigation and I am trying to understand the aspects of the counter-intelligence investigation that was conducted in the summer of 2016," said Barr on April 9.
The same day, Fox News learned that Barr had assembled a "team" to investigate the origins of the investigation. A source told Fox News on Tuesday that Durham was working on the investigation "for weeks," but it is unclear whether he was part of the original team assembled by Barr last month.
The FBI's counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 was opened by former Chief Constable Peter Strzok. Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Strzok had a romantic relationship, revealed during an interview in Congress that the FBI knew very little about whether the allegations against the campaign Trump were "true or not" at the time of their opening. the investigator, noting that they had only "little evidence, because we are just starting to get down the road" to verify the allegations. Page later stated that it was "quite common" that the FBI starts a counterintelligence investigation with just "a small amount of evidence."
At the time, the FBI was headed by former director James Comey and former deputy director Andrew McCabe, both fired under the Trump administration.
It has been widely reported that in the weeks and months leading up to the 2016 election, the FBI used informants to probe and extract information from Trump campaigners.
Earlier this month, the New York Times announced that an investigator working for the US intelligence community had come forward as a research assistant at Cambridge University in September 2016 and had attempted to investigate Trump's former foreign policy advisor, George Papadopoulos, on the possible links of the campaign with Russia.
The investigator, who passed by Azra Turk, met Papadopoulos at a London bar, where she directly asked if the Trump campaign was working in Russia. Papadopoulos told Fox News that he had seen Turk three times in London: once to drink, another time to dinner, and then once with Stefan Halper, the Cambridge teacher who had been a long-time informant of the FBI. The Times noted that Turk had apparently been sent to oversee Halper and possibly provide coverage to Halper in case Turk needed to testify.
Papadopoulos told Fox News earlier this month that he "immediately thought that she was an agent, but a Turkish agent, or working for the CIA," and explained "that's for that I never accepted her openings and that I found her after London … odd meeting place for me this year. "
Papadopoulos also told Fox News that Turk was trying to "seduce" him in order to "make me miss and say something they knew I had no information".
However, the role of informants would also be part of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz's review of potential abuse by FISA. Horowitz's investigation began last year and Fox News learned that the investigation was almost complete. Horowitz's investigation also covers FISA warrants issued and recertified for former Trump campaign aid Carter Page.
BARR REVEALS WHAT HE EXAMINES THE "CONDUCT" OF THE PROBE PROBE OF FBI RUSSIA
Republicans have been calling for months of scrutiny to determine whether the FBI violated Page's constitutional rights, misled the FISA court or concealed exculpatory information.
In October 2016, the FBI's request for the monitoring mandate of the page was finally successful. It relied in part on information provided by former British spy Christopher Steele, who had assembled the now anti-Trump case, and accusing him of being conspired with the Russians. Page has never been accused of any wrongdoing.
Republicans are also seeking responses from US Attorney General John Huber, charged by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to examine not only monitoring abuses perpetrated by the Justice Department and the FBI, but also their treatment of the investigation on the Clinton Foundation and other records. . Huber apparently made little progress and spoke to some key witnesses and whistleblowers.
At the same time, Barr's appointment of Durham comes after testifying last month that he thought "espionage did take place" during the 2016 Trump campaign.
"I think espionage has actually occurred," Barr said at a congressional hearing. "The question is whether this was adequately planned … Spying on a political campaign is a big problem."
Barr then stated at the hearing: "I'm not saying that there was inappropriate monitoring; I say I'm worried about it and I'm investigating, that's all. "
But FBI director Chris Wray, at a separate congressional hearing, broke Barr's sentiment.
BARR ASSEMBLED "THE TEAM & # 39; TO CONSULT THE ORIGINS OF THE RUSSIAN PROBE
"This is not the term I would use," Wray told legislators from the Senate Credits Committee when asked if FBI agents engaged in "spying" when they complied with policies and FBI procedures.
"Many people have different familiar phrases," he continued. "I believe the FBI is engaged in an investigative activity, and part of the investigative activity includes a surveillance activity of different shapes and sizes.For me, the key question is to make sure that this is done in the rules, in accordance with our legal authorities. "
But former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who resigned in November after a political clash with the president following his decision in 2017 to withdraw from control of the investigation over Russia because of his work in the campaign, then took the defense of Barr.
"I think" spying "is a very good word," said Sessions during an interview on stage at a conference in Las Vegas last week.
Jake Gibson, Gregg Re, and Adam Shaw of Fox News contributed to this report.
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