Conflicting Reports: John Durham May or May Not Wait Until After Election to Bring Indictments

Minnesota Sun Staff
by Debra Heine

 

U.S. Attorney John Durham is reportedly feeling pressure to wrap up his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe by the end of the summer, but because his work is ongoing, he may wait until after the election to reveal his findings to avoid looking political.

Investigative journalist John Solomon, meanwhile, is reporting that he has personally seen “a lot of activity” in Durham’s investigation that suggest indictments could come as soon as Labor Day.

After the Mueller investigation flamed out in April of 2019, Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham to investigate the shady origins of the FBI’s Russia probe, which lasted from July 2016, until the appointment of Mueller in May 2017.

Two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News that Durham is “working expeditiously” and feels “it’s critical” to do a thorough job.

Two sources familiar with Durham’s investigation told Fox News this week that Durham is working expeditiously to try to finish the probe by the end of summer, but that several lines of investigation are not yet complete.

“He believes it’s critical to do them,” one source said. “He is feeling more pressure to get this done and wrapped up.”

The source also told Fox News that Durham “does not want this to be viewed political,” and the closer it gets to November, Durham could “punt it to after the election.”

Conservative legal eagle Undercover Huber reacted to this news on Twitter. “A Biden administration will fire every US attorney on day one, especially John Durham,” he tweeted. “If his investigation doesn’t produce results before the election, it never will.”

Undercover Huber went on to point out that the Mueller probe yielded almost instantaneous results, as opposed to the more sluggish Durham probe.

President Trump angrily lashed out on Twitter Thursday morning, in response to two Supreme Court rulings dealing with subpoenas for his tax records, and also apparently in response to rumors that Durham will punt on indictments until after election day.

Quoting Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo who questioned why there have been no consequences for the “Biggest political scandal of our time,” Trump replied: “You are 100% correct, Maria, it is a disgrace that nothing happens. Obama and Biden spied on my campaign, AND GOT CAUGHT…BUT NOTHING!”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley first signaled that results of the probe might be delayed on Twitter earlier this week.

“IF NO PROSECUTIONS TIL AFTER ELECTIONS SAD SAD //just think Flynn Mueller Impeachment/ The deep state is so deep that ppl get away w political crimes/Durham shld be producing some fruit of his labor,” Grassley said.

However, Attorney General William Barr last month told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that Durham’s investigation of the Russia probe’s origins will likely yield “developments” before summer is over.

“You know, he’s pressing ahead as hard as he can. And I expect that, you know, we will have some developments hopefully before the end of the summer,” Barr said.

Investigative reporter John Solomon said Wednesday night that Republicans are getting frustrated with the pace of the Durham probe because “there is overwhelming evidence now in the public record now that crimes were committed inside the Russia investigation.”

Solomon lamented that no one has been brought to justice even though crimes such as “falsification of documents, false testimony, false representations before the FISA court” were committed by various SpyGate actors.

However, Solomon said he has personally seen “a lot of activity” in Durham’s investigation that suggest indictments are forthcoming.

“My sources tell me there’s a lot of activity. I’m seeing, personally, activity behind the scenes showing the Department of Justice is trying to bring those first indictments,” Solomon said during an interview with Lou Dobbs of the Fox Business Network.

“And I would look for a time around Labor Day to see the first sort of action by the Justice Department.”

When asked if he believes indictments are coming, Solomon replied that he’s seen “a lot of activity consistent with building prosecutions and preparing for criminal plea bargains.”

He went on to note that that doesn’t mean it [prosecutions] will happen. “Until they bring it before the grand jury you never know if it’s going to happen. I’m seeing activity consistent with that,” he explained.

Solomon also said that sources his sources have told him that the grand jury process was slowed down due to the Coronavirus complications.

“But everything I’m seeing on the ground … suggests that there’s an ongoing criminal investigation intent on bringing indictments and possibly plea bargains,” he said.

https://youtu.be/ysu3Ju2fshA

Durham’s team includes a number of federal prosecutors, including Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri who was tapped by the DOJ in February to review the case against Michael Flynn. In May, Barr also tapped U.S. Attorney for Western Texas John Bash to launch a more focused review on the process of unmasking.

According to Fox, “the pattern of conduct Durham is investigating includes misrepresentations made to the FISA court to obtain warrants to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page.”

Last month, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who oversaw the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller — testified that he would not have signed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant renewal application for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page had he known about since-revealed “significant errors” in in the document.

Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election, though the question of whether Trump obstructed justice was left open in the final report.

The Justice Department also revealed that Durham, himself, is investigating the unmasking of Trump campaign associates as part of his broader review. That line of investigation was confirmed after Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made public a list of Obama officials who purportedly requested to “unmask” the identity of Michael Flynn, who at the time was Trump’s incoming national security adviser.

Earlier this year, Barr threw cold water on the idea that the former president and vice president could be indicted, saying: “not every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is necessarily a federal crime.”

“As for President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement based on what I know, I don’t expect Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr said. “Our concern of potential criminality is focused on others.”

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Debra Heine reports for American Greatness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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