Trump expects shattering report on Russia probe

But he says Barr appointee’s findings are of more interest

This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut's U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut's U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he expected an upcoming watchdog report to be "devastating" on the origins of the Russia investigation that dogged his presidency for nearly two years, but he also suggested Americans should be more interested in the findings of a federal prosecutor appointed to do a similar probe.

Speaking to reporters in London, Trump said the "big report" on the Russia investigation will come from U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr in July to lead the inquiry into the origins of former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. It's not clear when that probe will be completed.

But the Justice Department's inspector general is to release a report Monday on the early stages of the FBI's Russia investigation.

The president's comments suggested that Monday's report, centered in part on the use of a secret surveillance warrant to monitor the communications of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, wouldn't be a full-throated confirmation of his allegations that the Russia probe was a politically motivated "witch hunt."

"I do think the big report to wait for is going to be the Durham report," Trump said. "That's the one that people are really waiting for."

Trump's remarks came a day after The Washington Post reported that Barr told associates that he disagrees with a finding from the inspector general's upcoming report that the FBI was justified in July 2016 in opening a counterintelligence investigation into members of the Trump campaign. The newspaper, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that Barr had not been swayed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz's rationale for concluding that the FBI had a good enough reason to open the investigation that would become the special counsel's probe.

While the president said the inspector general's report was also very important and that he's heard "it's devastating," the watchdog is limited in what he was examining, and Durham has a wider investigative scope. The inspector general does not have the power to compel former employees to be interviewed.

Durham is conducting a criminal investigation examining what led the U.S. to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and the roles that various countries played in the U.S. probe. He is also investigating whether the surveillance methods and intelligence gathering methods used during the investigation were legal and appropriate. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, is a career prosecutor who has led investigations into the FBI's relationship with Boston mobsters like James "Whitey" Bulger and the CIA's use of tough interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects.

The FBI's counterintelligence investigation later morphed into Mueller's Russia investigation. Mueller concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, but his investigation didn't find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia. Mueller also examined 10 possible instances of obstruction of justice and has said he could not exonerate the president.

The inspector general uncovered that an FBI lawyer is suspected of altering a document related to surveillance of Page, according to a person familiar with the case who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke only on the condition of anonymity. The inspector general cannot file criminal charges but can make referrals to federal prosecutors if potential crimes are uncovered.

Trump and his supporters are likely to seize on any findings of mistakes or bad judgment in the report to support their claims of a biased investigation. Supporters of the FBI, meanwhile, are likely to hold up as vindication any findings that the investigation was done by the book, or free of political considerations.

The Justice Department has no plan to submit a formal rebuttal as part of the inspector general's report, a person familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations surrounding the report.

The attorney general has taken a hands-on role in leading the Durham investigation and has traveled overseas with Durham for personal meetings with foreign law enforcement officials, some of which were initiated by Trump. The president has asked the Australian prime minister and other foreign leaders to help Barr with the Durham investigation.

Information for this article was contributed by Eric Tucker of The Associated Press.

A Section on 12/04/2019

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