(SNews) – The New York Times published a bombshell about special counsel John Durham as his four-year-long investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe comes to an end.
Durham is preparing his final report but the Times spoke “with more than a dozen current and former officials” to get a sneak peek. And Trump will be furious.
Because while Durham and Bill Barr turned over every rock to find a link between Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Russian hoax, even going to Europe to investigate claims allegedly made by foreign intelligence agencies, Durham got a tip about suspected financial crimes by Trump and opened a criminal investigation into the former President with Bill Barr’s blessing.
According to the Times:
“On one of Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham’s trips to Europe, according to people familiar with the matter, Italian officials — while denying any role in setting off the Russia investigation — unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes.
“Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore.
“But rather than assign it to another prosecutor, Mr. Barr had Mr. Durham investigate the matter himself — giving him criminal prosecution powers for the first time — even though the possible wrongdoing by Mr. Trump did not fall squarely within Mr. Durham’s assignment to scrutinize the origins of the Russia inquiry, the people said.
“Mr. Durham never filed charges, and it remains unclear what level of an investigation it was, what steps he took, what he learned and whether anyone at the White House ever found out.
“The extraordinary fact that Mr. Durham opened a criminal investigation that included scrutinizing Mr. Trump has remained secret.”
The Times reported that as part of his probe, Durham was investigating George Soros:
“Mr. Durham used Russian intelligence memos — suspected by other U.S. officials of containing disinformation — to gain access to emails of an aide to George Soros.”
🚨BREAKING: Special Counsel John Durham used Russian intel — suspected of containing disinformation — to gain access to emails of an aide to George Soros, the philanthropist who is a favorite target of the American right.
No Paywall. This is gifted.https://t.co/5eDezl7LRj
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) January 26, 2023
NYT reporting Bill Barr & John Durham got an inconvenient surprise in Italy.
BARR & DURHAM: "Did you have any role in starting the Trump/Russia investigation?"
ITALIAN OFFICIALS: "No, but we do have credible evidence of Trump's financial crimes."
Those crimes are still secret. pic.twitter.com/NyR3pRJEFB
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) January 26, 2023
William Barr wanted John Durham to dig into the investigation, but his review found no wrongdoing — and veered into a criminal inquiry related to Donald Trump. https://t.co/TSRmPbhkve
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 26, 2023
slaynews.com/news/john-durham-turned-on-trump-opened-criminal-investigation-into-donald-over-suspected-financial-crimes/