# Barr appoints U.S. attorney John Durham to investigate the investigation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946 "2019-05-14T14:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/1 "2019-05-14T14:59:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Attorney General William Barr has asked the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, John Durham, to review the origins of the Russia investigation, a source familiar with the assignment confirmed to CBS News on Monday. > > In congressional testimony last month about the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia probe, Barr expressed concern about the possibility of “improper surveillance” of the Trump campaign. > > Durham, according to the source, has been tasked by Barr with ensuring that the U.S. government’s intelligence collection efforts related to the Trump campaign – leading up to President Trump’s 2017 inauguration – were both lawful and appropriate. > > [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-attorney-to-review-russia-probe/) Of course #MAGA Twitter is positively delirious at this news, as they feel it’s a foregone conclusion that Mueller, Comey, and Hillary Clinton will be led off in chains any day now and gee, it’s sure about time. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/2 "2019-05-14T15:19:02Z")
I’m sure Bill Barr will release his four page summary about Oct 27, 2020 and that the summary will say: “Hillary! Emails! Benghazi! Fast and Furious! Spying!” and a few more bumper stickers. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/3 "2019-05-14T15:50:45Z")
A bumper sticker slogan? I’m sure by then the summaries will be much shorter. . Justice Kavanaugh - “Bud” . AG Barr - “Wise” . Rudy Giuliani - “Errr…” ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/4 "2019-05-14T16:14:00Z")
I for one hope this will be as successful as Trump’s investigation into voter fraud was! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/5 "2019-05-14T16:27:04Z")
I look forward to the eventual investigation into the investigation into the investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/6 "2019-05-14T16:30:54Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I for one hope this will be as successful as Trump’s investigation into voter fraud was! That would be my guess. Start with a whole bunch of fan fair and hoopla, and then quietly close when they don’t find anything. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/7 "2019-05-14T16:57:41Z")
The US government was caught red-handed spying on at least one political campaign and coordinating with a foreign spook who sought to undermine the campaign. I would hope there was an investigation. Not a good look. ---
**Author:** ![1060westaddison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/8baadc/32.png) [@1060westaddison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1060westaddison)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/8 "2019-05-14T17:34:08Z")
Funny, I thought administration’s line was that the investigation resulted in a “Complete and total exoneration.” You’d think Trump would be sending Comey, Mueller, etc. fruit baskets to thank them for proving how innocent he is. [White House claims total and complete exoneration after Mueller report](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/435527-white-house-claims-total-and-complete-exoneration-after-mueller) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/9 "2019-05-14T17:36:13Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > The US government was caught red-handed spying on at least one political campaign and coordinating with a foreign spook who sought to undermine the campaign. None of that is an accurate description of events. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/10 "2019-05-14T19:45:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m sure Bill Barr will release his four page summary about Oct 27, 2020 and that the summary will say: “Hillary! Emails! Benghazi! Fast and Furious! Spying!” and a few more bumper stickers. You left out “Biden/Sanders/Harris” or whoever the Dem candidate is. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/11 "2019-05-14T19:53:00Z")
Well, when you look around this great big nation of ours, and all the experienced investigators and attorneys out there, I suppose there’s not a single person more qualified than the one who twice cleared the CIA of any wrongdoing in its torture policies. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/12 "2019-05-15T00:08:06Z")
The FBI wasn’t spying on the trump campaign. They were conducting investigations into the activities of Russia. trump campaign folks just kept wandering in and out of the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/13 "2019-05-15T00:11:49Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > The US government was caught red-handed spying on at least one political campaign and coordinating with a foreign spook who sought to undermine the campaign. I would hope there was an investigation. Not a good look. Law enforcement is supposed to spy on criminals. Trump is under 29 separate investigations right now, and those are just the ones we know of (Mueller, for example, recommended 14 cases to outside prosecutors but only 2 of those cases are public). > **[Tracking 30 Investigations Related to Trump (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/13/us/politics/trump-investigations.html)** > > Federal, state and congressional authorities are investigating Donald J. Trump’s businesses, campaign, inauguration and presidency. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/14 "2019-05-15T00:35:07Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > The US government was caught red-handed spying on at least one political campaign and coordinating with a foreign spook who sought to undermine the campaign. I would hope there was an investigation. Not a good look. So, there were lots of investigations…If not for the FBI investigating Anthony Weiner’s weiner, we wouldn’t have the Grand Weiner in the White House. You guys should be praising the FBI (and Comey in particular) to high-heaven since their actions in disclosing the investigation of the additional Clinton e-mails found while investigating Weiner’s weiner while staying mum about the Trump investigations is what got the Grand Weiner elected. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/15 "2019-05-15T03:28:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > None of that is an accurate description of events. Are you surprised? ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/16 "2019-05-15T12:10:23Z")
All this is is a bunch of CRIMINALS wanting to make it look as though they were hard done by. What a complete and utter crock. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/17 "2019-05-15T12:40:51Z")
For those complaining about “The US government … spying on at least one political campaign”, answer this: If some element of the US government (FBI, CIA, whoever) somehow came into possession of credible evidence that a political campaign was being targeted by a foreign power, and that some members of that campaign might even be actively cooperating with the foreign power, what, exactly, do **YOU** think they should have done about it? What actions should they take? What actions _could_ they take that wouldn’t have someone, somewhere complaining about them “trying to affect the election”? Completely aside from the issue of Trump, and whether or not his campaign should have been investigated, one thing we know for sure from the Mueller report is that Russia was absolutely trying to influence the last election. There’s no reason to think they’re going to stop for the next election, so this isn’t a purely academic question. At some point, someone in the US government is probably going to have evidence that points to foreign influence in the 2020 election, _ **so what should they do about it?** _ ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/18 "2019-05-15T16:30:54Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > For those complaining about “The US government … spying on at least one political campaign”, answer this: > > If some element of the US government (FBI, CIA, whoever) somehow came into possession of credible evidence that a political campaign was being targeted by a foreign power, and that some members of that campaign might even be actively cooperating with the foreign power, what, exactly, do **YOU** think they should have done about it? What actions should they take? What actions _could_ they take that wouldn’t have someone, somewhere complaining about them “trying to affect the election”? > Completely aside from the issue of Trump, and whether or not his campaign should have been investigated, one thing we know for sure from the Mueller report is that Russia was absolutely trying to influence the last election. There’s no reason to think they’re going to stop for the next election, so this isn’t a purely academic question. At some point, someone in the US government is probably going to have evidence that points to foreign influence in the 2020 election, _ **so what should they do about it?** _ If there is credible evidence of an attempt to influence an election, they should investigate. But you are conflating two very different things. 1. The Russian attempts at meddling, which at this point no reasonable and informed person can deny existed. They did it before 2016, they will do it in the future, and countermeasures should be taken. 2. The claim that Trump or his surrogates cooperated, wittingly or unwittingly with the Russians, which at this point no reasonable and informed person can claim actually occured. Democrats have used the first to insinuate the second, Trump the second to deny the first, both for political ends. If there was indeed credible evidence for the second, of course they should have investigated. But it is far from clear that there ever was. The purpose of Barr/Durham’s inquiries is to determine if the FBI and others were doing wiretaps and running informants based on information they already knew was _not_ credible, as well as if other laws and rules were followed (e.g. possible false statements in court filings, etc) If Robert Barr thinks there is a real possibility that high-level people in federal law enforcement were running surveillance operations on a political campaign based on information they knew or suspected was false – and which was admittedly sourced from Russian intelligence! – what should \*\*he \*\*do about it? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/19 "2019-05-15T16:41:38Z")
> [@furt](#): > > 1. The claim that Trump or his surrogates cooperated, wittingly or unwittingly with the Russians, which at this point no reasonable and informed person can claim actually occured. > ? I don’t see how you can deny that this occurred. The Mueller report goes into quite a bit of detail about how people close to and paid by and related to Trump did in fact seek co-operation with the Russians. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946/20 "2019-05-15T16:42:51Z")
Not in the Barr summary did they! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barr-appoints-u-s-attorney-john-durham-to-investigate-the-investigation/833946.md?page=2)