Attorney General William Barr said special counsel John Durham is “making good progress” in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is working in Washington, on a regular basis, said Barr. Durham was appointed by Barr as special counsel in October; he was appointed to investigate the origin of the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign last year.
“Before the election, as you know, I designated John Durham as special counsel because I wanted to provide him and his team with assurance that they’d be able to finish their work,” Barr told reporters on Monday. “They’re making good progress now and I expect they will be able to finish their work.”
Durham being named as a special counsel ensures that the probe can continue into the next administration.
Earlier this month, Barr told Congress that he appointed Durham as special counsel to “provide him and his team with the assurance that they could complete their work” before the Nov. 3 election.
According to the U.S. Code, Durham will produce a “confidential report” and will send it “to the Attorney General a final report, and such interim reports as he deems appropriate in a form that will permit public dissemination.”
What’s more, the attorney general noted that Durham “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.”
Mueller’s investigation found there was no collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 campaign, and it found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy.
So far, in Durham’s probe, one FBI official was indicted. Kevin Clinesmith, a former lawyer for the law enforcement agency, was charged with altering an email that was used in the surveillance of former Trump aide Carter Page.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said earlier this year that he believes more indictments will be on the way.
“I think there will be more indictments,” Ratcliffe said in October, according to Fox Business. “Based on the intelligence I have access to, I certainly believe there should be.”
Barr also defended not making the probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings public before the Nov. 3 election, telling the Wall Street Journal that the Department of Justice has a rule about publicly confirming probes involving candidates.
“Think about the power it would give the federal bureaucracy,” Barr said. “The standard for investigating someone is low. So just gin up an investigation, make it public, affect every election.”
