Attorney General William Barr Expanding Russian Hoax Investigation

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Attorney General William Barr is expanding a review of the Russia Hoax probe. The probe has evolved into a criminal investigation, giving a federal prosecutor who is leading the inquiry the ability to subpoena witnesses and use a grand jury.

It could not immediately be determined what prompted the change nor what evidence of a crime Mr. Barr and the federal prosecutor leading the probe, John Durham, may have found. When the inquiry was announced in May, Justice Department officials described it as a review that could prompt changes to counterintelligence investigations of political campaigns.

The ramping up of the review into an investigation that could bring criminal charges comes as Congress pursues a fake impeachment inquiry centered on President Trump’s falsely reported efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son who engaged in what appears to be a favor trading operation. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have long urged the Justice Department to prove whether the president and his associates were unduly targeted for surveillance during the 2016 campaign by politically biased investigators, an investigation the President called a coup attempt. 

Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham are looking into the underpinnings of the FBI’s probe into Russian Hoax, including the “Steele Dossier” which has been largely found to be nothing more than opposition research and was used to procure a FISA warrant.