Bill Barr’s ‘Handpicked Prosecutor’ John Durham Will NOT Contradict IG’s Findings on Trump-Russia Probe; Report

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A new report says that John Durham, the U.S. attorney that William Barr selected to review the origins of the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation, is not going to provide evidence against the findings of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Washington Post reports that Durham contacted Durham’s office and a number of U.S. intelligence agencies as he prepares to release his findings of how the FBI handled the probe into President Donald Trump’s campaign. Horowitz’s report is expected to say there was a legitimate basis to launch the investigation, and WaPo’s sources say that a draft of Durham’s own findings will not produce evidence to contradict Horowitz.

From the report:

Among Horowitz’s questions: whether a Maltese professor who interacted with a Trump campaign adviser was actually a U.S. intelligence asset deployed to ensnare the campaign, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the inspector general’s findings have not been made public.

But the intelligence agencies said the professor was not among their assets, the people said.

The Post acknowledged that Durham has not crafted his final draft yet, nor have reporters had a chance to review Horowitz’s report. Nonetheless, the Durham rough draft presents an interesting development since Barr has taken issue with Horowitz’s findings and said the IG “does not have enough information to reach the conclusion the FBI had enough details in hand at the time to justify” the probe.