Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Says Panel Will ‘Take a Hard Look’ at ‘Outrageous’ Durham Probe

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the Judiciary Committee will review the actions of the investigation of Special Counsel John Durham after the New York Times published a report about the probe last week.

In 2019, then-Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Durham to investigate the Department of Justice over its probe into whether Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government in exchange for its help in the 2016 election.

While conservatives hoped Durham would turn up evidence of wrongdoing by the DOJ, his findings – or lack thereof – have flopped. During the investigation, the Times reported Durham received a tip from Italian officials regarding potential financial crimes Trump committed.

“Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore,” the Times said. “But rather than assign it to another prosecutor, Mr. Barr had Mr. Durham investigate the matter himself.”

The publication also noted that Durham managed to gain access to the emails of an aide to billionaire Democratic donor George Soros. Durham managed to obtain them after a judge twice rejected his request for a warrant.

Moreover, rather than keep his distance from Durham as attorneys general tend to do with special counsels, Barr appears to have kept close tabs on his work.

Durbin, who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a statement on Monday, calling the revelations “outrageous”:

These reports about abuses in Special Counsel Durham’s investigation—so outrageous that even his longtime colleagues quit in protest—are but one of many instances where former President Trump and his allies weaponized the Justice Department.

The Justice Department should work on behalf of the American people, not for the personal benefit of any president. As we wait for the results of ongoing internal reviews, the Senate Judiciary Committee will do its part and take a hard look at these repeated episodes, and the regulations and policies that enabled them, to ensure such abuses of power cannot happen again.

It is unclear if “a hard look” means a full-fledged investigation into the matter.