In August, Attorney General William Barr refused to commit to withholding any report by DOJ watchdog John Durham before the November election – causing Congressional Democrats to froth at the mouth over an “October surprise” meant to hurt Joe Biden.
Durham was appointed by Barr to investigate the Russia investigators – including members of the Obama-Biden administration, the FBI and the DOJ.
Now, days after a top prosecutor on the Durham team resigned – reportedly over what she thought was “pressure from Barr to produce results before the November election,” the Democratic chairs of four House committees have demanded an “emergency investigation” into Durham’s probe, according to the Daily Caller.
“We write to ask that you open an emergency investigation into whether U.S. Attorney General William Barr, U.S. Attorney John Durham, and other Department of Justice political appointees are following DOJ’s longstanding policy to avoid taking official actions or other steps that could improperly influence the upcoming presidential election,” wrote Democrats Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in a letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz.
“Absolutely Terrified” Democrats Demand Emergency Investigation Into Durham Probe
The letter follows a similar demand on Thursday from 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Democrats are questioning the legal authority of the investigation, and whether Durham is allowed to release a public report of the probe before the election.
“Attorney General Barr has signaled repeatedly that he is likely to allow DOJ to take prosecutorial actions, make public disclosures, and even issue reports before the presidential election in November. Such actions clearly appear intended to benefit President Trump politically,” the Democrats wrote. –Daily Caller
House Judiciary Republicans suggested that the Democrats are “absolutely terrified” of the Durham probe, as “They know Barr and Durham are cleaning up the what the Obama/Biden DOJ left behind,” adding “And the results won’t be pretty for them.”
House Democrats are absolutely terrified.
They know Barr and Durham are cleaning up the what the Obama/Biden DOJ left behind.
And the results won’t be pretty for them. https://t.co/8OxFZL23qN
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) September 18, 2020
As part of his investigation, Durham has interviewed former CIA Director John Brennan and others, allegedly regarding the CIA’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind interference in the 2016 US election in order to help President Trump.
In an August 13th interview, Barr said he expects “significant” developments to come out of the investigation before the election. Days later, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to fabricating evidence used to obtain surveillance warrants on former Trump adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith -who worked on both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the Russia probe, was part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, and interviewed Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos.
Meanwhile, earlier this month White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows suggested that former FBI agent Peter Strzok and other officials involved in the operation against Trump could be in trouble.
“And I use the word unlawful at best, it broke all kinds of protocols and at worst people should go to jail as I mentioned previously,” Meadows said during a virtual appearance on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Maria” on Monday. -via The Epoch Times
If the Obama-Biden DOJ did nothing wrong, what do Democrats have to worry about?