Barr elevates John Durham to special counsel in Russia origins probe
Former DOJ public affairs deputy director Ian Prior discusses the latest twist in the Durham probe on 'Bill Hemmer Reports'
Evening newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS omitted that Attorney General Bill Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham as special counsel to continue investigating the origins of the Russia probe in the next administration.
Barr notified the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, in a letter dated Dec. 1 obtained by Fox News, that Durham would be special counsel. The news broke Tuesday afternoon, reported first by the Associated Press and confirmed by Fox News.
However, Tuesday editions of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” NBC’s “Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News” didn’t cover it.
BARR APPOINTS JOHN DURHAM AS SPECIAL COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE ORIGINS OF RUSSIA PROBE
All three network newscasts did find time to report that Barr also told the AP his investigators hadn’t found enough election fraud to overturn the result.
Even liberal networks CNN and MSNBC mentioned the Durham news.
In a scope order, obtained by Fox News, Barr stated Durham as special counsel “is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.”
DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCUMENTS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW
Under U.S. code, the special counsel would produce a “confidential report” and is ordered to “submit to the Attorney General a final report, and such interim reports as he deems appropriate in a form that will permit public dissemination.”
Fox News reported last week that Durham was moving "full speed ahead" with his investigation after Election Day.
Durham’s investigation has produced one criminal charge so far, against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who was accused of altering an email related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide. That prosecution, though, did not allege a broader conspiracy within the FBI, and the conduct it involved had largely been laid out in a Justice Department inspector general report from last December.
After the Clinesmith charge, Durham’s team went silent. Two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News over the summer that Durham was not finished with several lines of investigation, which he believed were “critical.”
Durham was appointed by Barr last year to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe, shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller completed his yearslong investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Fox News’ Jake Gibson and Brooke SIngman contributed to this report.
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