There is ample evidence that the Democratic administration of Barack Obama weaponized the federal government to spy on the GOP campaign of Donald Trump.
There were claims of "Russia collusion" and a Ukraine "quid pro quo" that led to a failed effort to remove Trump from office.
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Now, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who helped lead the impeachment drive, wants DOJ officials to answer questions about the whole scenario.
He says it's become political.
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Nadler wrote a letter Friday to Attorney General William Barr posing questions regarding the DOJ's withdrawal of a sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump associate Roger Stone.
The congressman also wants to know about "the department's decisions to intervene in the normal handling of a series of criminal proceedings involving the president's associates and former staff, including reducing former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing recommendation."
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And he has questions about why authorities are investigating "career law enforcement officials and investigations related to President Trump and the 2016 election."
And then there are instances of the "department ignoring federal whistleblower protections by overruling the Intelligence Community Inspector General's conclusion that an 'urgent concern' complaint regarding Ukraine was found to appear credibly and required under statute to be transmitted to Congress."
The Senate, however, acquitted Trump of the Democrats' charges.
Nadler acknowledged the DOJ usually doesn't answer questions about ongoing investigations, but he wants a "full briefing" anyway.
Further, he wants to interview dozens of DOJ officials and seeks copies of communications between President Trump and the DOJ on "the criminal and civil matters identified in this letter" and even "a description of each instance in the last 10 years when senior officials of the department intervened to alter sentencing recommendations by a U.S. attorney's office."
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Nadler demands the answers by March 13.
The Washington Examiner reported the Democrats behind the letter are insisting that U.S. Attorney John Durham testify about his inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation.
Nadler claimed recent actions "smack of political interference."
But he listed only actions under the Trump presidency, ignoring issues such as the DOJ's use of an opposition-research document funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign.
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The Examiner said a spokesman for Durham declined comment.
Trump authorized Barr to "declassify information" in the "investigation of the investigators" who orchestrated the original strategy against Trump.
Durham was told to review possible misconduct by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials during the counterintelligence investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign. The review has turned into a criminal investivation.
Barr told a Senate hearing he believes the Obama administration did "spy" on the Trump campaign.
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GOP members of the House believe Durham will find out exactly what happened when Democrats spied on the Trump campaign.
Two of the search warrants the Obama administration used against the Trump campaign already have been ruled invalid by the FISA court that issued them.
The Examiner reported: "Durham is reportedly reviewing former CIA Director John Brennan’s analysis of Russian election interference, including scrutiny of his handling of a secret source said to be close to the Kremlin. Some of the U.S. attorney's scrutiny revolves around how the U.S. government eventually reached its January 2017 intelligence assessment on Russian election interference and whether Brennan was pushing for a biased result."
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told the Examiner the Democrats’ request "is yet another attempt to distract from the job they’ve failed to do, which is reform FISA and finally address the abuse that has plagued our nation over the last three years."
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"The only political interference our committee should be examining is the FBI’s unlawful surveillance of Carter Page and the Trump campaign," he said. "The fact that Democrats sent these requests just two days after canceling our FISA markup and putting our national security at risk is further proof that they care about one thing and one thing only: Attempting to take down President Trump."