William Barr Names Connecticut Prosecutor John Durham To Investigate Russia Probe’s Origins

Attorney General William Barr on Monday named John H. Durham, a U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election led by Robert Mueller. 

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz is already examining how investigators used wiretap tools and informants, and whether there was political bias in any major decisions.

John Huber, a U.S. attorney in Utah, has also been tapped to review aspects of the inquiry.

Durham previously worked as an attorney within the Justice Department for almost 40 years, The New York Times reported, and made his name during that time as a prominent prosecutor.

In 2008, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey directed Durham to lead a probe of the CIA in 2008 over the agency destroying video evidence of suspected terrorists being subjected to torture.

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Last month, it was reported that Barr had created a special group to assess the actions taken by the FBI and the Justice Department in the months leading up to the Russia probe. In his testimony before a Senate committee, Barr said he suspected the FBI may have “spied” on Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“The question is whether it was adequately predicated and I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that,” said Barr.

FBI Director Christopher Wray stated last week that he believes “spying” is an inaccurate term to describe the actions the bureau took.

Last month, just two weeks before Mueller’s full Russia probe was released, Trump reiterated his call for all the investigators involved in the inquiry to be looked into. The president also said he wished for the “origins” of the investigation to be determined, although he appeared to pronounce the word as “oranges,” a gaffe that quickly drew jokes from many late-night television hosts.