Trump’s Russia Probe Led to Criminal Investigation Into Trump Himself: NYT

In 2019, at the behest of Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr asked a prosecutor named John Durham to look into the FBI’s probe on possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, in the hopes of proving the then-president’s assertion that it was the “single greatest witch hunt” in U.S. history correct. Instead, according to a Thursday report from The New York Times, Barr and Durham received a tip from Italian authorities that resulted in the Justice Department quietly opening a criminal inquiry into Trump himself. As special counsel, Durham reportedly pressed Italian officials to share any role they may have had in igniting the FBI’s investigation. In response, Italy “unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes,” the Times reported. Barr and Durham, who had become good drinking buddies by this point, decided the tip was both credible and serious. The attorney general then asked Durham to open a criminal investigation that included examining Trump’s possible wrongdoing. The nature of the Italian tip is unclear, but no charges were ever brought by Durham in relation to it.