Attorney General Bill Barr appointed a U.S. Attorney to investigate the evidence that led to the investigation into Russian collusion. President Donald Trump has said that the entirety of the Russia inquiry had to do with the Christopher Steele dossier. The FBI has said it began with an ambassador in Australia who met with George Papadopoulos, who admitted Russia was offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Robert Mueller was only called to be the special counsel after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and then admitted it was due to the Russia inquiry.
But Trump has held a grudge over the course of the investigation, claiming it was everyone else that was causing problems. He has blamed former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as well as Clinton. Biden admitted in an interview that it was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who blocked Obama from forming a bipartisan coalition that would warn Americans about Russia, but McConnell refused. He has never explained why.
Now Trump is investigating the investigators who investigated him.
Word of the move was highly criticized on Monday.
"I would like to hear someone at DOJ say what evidence of wrongdoing justifies this third probe. Such a gross politicization of the deparrment and a huge abuse of power by Barr," former DOJ chief spokesperson Matt Miller charged. "One thing about Durham: he moves incredibly slowly. I’d be shocked if he is done before November 2020, meaning Trump will be able to attack the FBI as being under a cloud throughout the campaign. All part of the plan."
"We have the gross corruption of the Justice Department to attack the political enemies of the "president". If this happened in another country, our State Department would be questioning its status as a democracy," Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress charged.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner was also alarmed.
"Mueller’s investigation found massive Russian interference in our elections and resulted in many criminal indictments. Barr’s decision to order an investigation of those who uncovered that Russian cyber attack on our country is, in a word, un-American," Kirschner said.
The far-right, however, was ecstatic.
"A major, positive development for accountability over the Spygate targeting of Trump," Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, argued.
"John Durham is an outstanding choice for special prosecutor investigating 2016 pre-election activities—his selection further demonstrates Bill Barr’s tenacity and determined desire to get to the truth and restore credibility at the top tier of the DOJ and FBI," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said.
Here's what others were saying about the development: