Deep state panic? Durham now heads criminal investigation

FPI / October 25, 2019

Is the shoe on the other foot? The deep state's panic meter was reportedly activated on Oct. 24 with news that the Department of Justice’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia hoax is now a criminal inquiry.

The move, revealed in an Oct. 24 report by The New York Times, allows U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to head up the investigation, to subpoena witnesses for testimony and documents. The move also authorizes Durham to impanel a grand jury and file charges.

Related: Unreported: Two collusion investigations in a race with time, October 11, 2019

“If true, this shows Bill Barr is doing EXACTLY his job: following the facts. Those who damaged America and broke the law to spread this hoax are about to face accountability,” Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican, tweeted 

But radio and TV host Mark Levin was quick to note that the NY Times article announcing the criminal investigation “predictably” also slammed the DOJ and White House. The article, Levin said, “smears Barr, smears Trump. So that's what we're going to get from the New York Times. It's not news."

NBC News reported that Durham has “found something significant and critics should be careful.” As part of the inquiry, Durham has sought interviews with CIA analysts who assessed Russia’s activities during the 2016 presidential election, prompting some of them to hire lawyers, NBC News stated.

Breitbart News noted that “Durham has been tasked with determining whether the Justice Department, FBI and intelligence authorities improperly surveilled the 2016 Trump campaign as part of their investigation into now-debunked coordination with Russia during the last presidential election. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation found insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

According to Fox News, Durham has reportedly received briefings on the “four corners” of the FBI’s use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants as part of its spying operation into the Trump campaign.

“Durham is specifically reviewing the FISA warrant obtained by the FBI to surveil former Trump aide Carter Page, as well as general issues relating to surveillance during the 2016 campaign and matters flowing from the FISA process,” Fox News reported.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said his campaign was illegally surveilled and has even accused officials of treason. “My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on,” the president wrote on Twitter in May. “Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!”

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