The probe by Attorney General William Barr into what triggered the “Russia collusion” probe, in which President Trump’s critics claimed he colluded with Russia during the 2016 election, is going to have results that are “broad” and “multifaceted.”
That word comes from Stephen E. Boyd, a Department of Justice official who provided a summary of the investigation, so far, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee chief Jerry Nadler. The DOJ is looking into the “deep state” actions that were brought again the Trump campaign.
A report in the Daily Caller explains the review is “broad in scope and multifacted.”
It was Barr who earlier stunned a congressional committee hearing by confirming he believes the administration of Barack Obama did spy on the Trump campaign in 2016.
He said the question was why it was done – and whether there was justification. Without that, the strategy likely would have been the most significant weaponization of the U.S. justice system and law enforcement against the campaign of a political opponent that ever has been seen in the U.S.
The original “Russia” probe, prompted by Democrat claims of that collusion, ended after more than two years and tens of millions of dollars with the conclusion by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller that there was no collusion, and there were no charges of obstruction, which also was alleged.
The facts are that the original probe likely was launched in large part because of a political opposition research document funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and created by a law firm that hired a former British spy to use his Russian contacts and assemble a document of allegations.
It remains under investigation what happened for the DOJ under Obama to submit those pages of mostly unverified claims to a U.S. court, when the Obama administration sought permission to spy on Trump.
It’s illegal for information that has not been verified to be submitted to the court.
Boyd’s letter, a summary of Barr’s work, said, “It is now well established that, in 2016, the U.S. government and others undertook certain intelligence-gathering and investigative steps directed at persons associated with the Trump Campaign.”
He added, “There remain open questions relating to the origins of this counter-intelligence investigation and the U.S. and foreign intelligence activities that took place prior to and during that investigation.”
Boyd told Nadler, “The review is broad in scope and multifaceted, and is intended to illuminate open questions regarding the activities of U.S. and foreign intelligence services as well as non-governmental organizations and individuals.”
The FBI at the time used the unreliable dossier from British agent Christopher Steel to get surveillance warrants against Trump campaigner Carter Page.
“The FBI also used informants, including former Cambridge professor Stefan Halper, to make contact with Trump campaign advisers, including Page and George Papadopoulos. One question that has yet to be answered is when Halper was first tasked with contacting Trump associates,” the report said.
“Boyd also addressed concerns raised by Democrats that Barr will declassify and release information about sources and methods used in the investigation. Trump authorized Barr on May 24 to declassify any information he obtains as part of the review,” the report said.
“[I]t is of great importance to the department to protect classified information by preventing the unwarranted disclosure of sensitive sources, methods, techniques and materials where such disclosure would endanger the personal safety of U.S. government employees or friendly foreign partners, harm U.S. national security interests, or compromise the ability of U.S. government agencies to conduct their important work to protect the American people,” Boyd wrote Nadler.
Only a few weeks earlier, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh warned that once the Democrat strategy to tarnish Trump and try to get him out of office failed, people would be demanding to know how it all got started.
It was Obama’s CIA chief, John Brennan, who assured America many times “that Trump was virtually Putin’s lackey.”
He’s had to change his statements now.
Limbaugh pointed out, “The next obvious question, what the hell was this, then? Why was this done? Why was this investigation launched? Who did that, why, and when? You mean, after 40 FBI agents, over two years, $30 million, 19 Hillary-loving lawyers on Mueller’s team, and nothing?”
