U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a criminal investigation into the origins the Russia probe and FISA abuse, is focusing in on former CIA Director John Brennan.
During an interview with Fox News Thursday night, Attorney General Bill Barr broadly discussed Durham's efforts and his pursuit of information outside of the Department of Justice.
"I know in a general sense what they're looking at," Barr said about Durham's investigation. "He's not just looking at the FBI, he's looking at other agencies, departments and also private actors. It's a much broader investigation. And also, he's not just looking at the FISA aspect of it, he's looking at all the conduct, both before and after the election...it would include agencies that could have been involved. We're getting a lot of cooperation on this."
The New York Times has the details Barr didn't reveal.The federal prosecutor scrutinizing the Russia investigation has begun examining the role of the former C.I.A. director John O. Brennan in how the intelligence community assessed Russia’s 2016 election interference, according to three people briefed on the inquiry.
John H. Durham, the United States attorney leading the investigation, has requested Mr. Brennan’s emails, call logs and other documents from the C.I.A., according to a person briefed on his inquiry. He wants to learn what Mr. Brennan told other officials, including the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, about his and the C.I.A.’s views of a notorious dossier of assertions about Russia and Trump associates. …
Mr. Durham is also examining whether Mr. Brennan privately contradicted his public comments, including May 2017 testimony to Congress, about both the dossier and about any debate among the intelligence agencies over their conclusions on Russia’s interference, the people said.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded a lengthy investigation into FISA abuse and released his report last week, but his investigation was limited to DOJ and the FBI. Durham has the authority and the legal ability to pursue leads wherever they may take investigators.
For years, Brennan repeatedly peddled the false Russia collusion narrative on MSNBC before he was thoroughly debunked by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Durham is pulling the curtain back on Brennan's behavior behind the scenes, which includes his involvement with the Clinton funded, foreign dossier.
