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THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has opened a criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation that examined whether Donald Trump colluded with Moscow during the 2016 presidential election, US media reported yesterday.
Justice Department officials have switched an administrative review of the investigation, overseen by Attorney General William Barr, to a criminal inquiry, The New York Times said.
The newspaper cited two sources close to the matter.
The move gives lead prosecutor John Durham, the US attorney for Connecticut, the power convene a grand jury, file criminal charges and issue subpoenas for witness testimony and documents.
The decision to open the inquiry means that the Justice Department is essentially conducting a criminal investigation into itself, though it is not clear what potential crime is being investigated, nor when the criminal inquiry began, the Times added.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.
Trump has repeatedly attacked the Russia investigation since it began in 2016, denying allegations of collusion and accusing those involved of treason.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, published in March, did support the president’s repeated assertions that he never colluded with Russian intelligence efforts to tilt the 2016 election in his favor.
However, the report – based on nearly two years of interviews by Mueller’s team with Trump’s inner circle – emphasised that, contrary to the Republican president’s claim, he was not cleared of obstruction of justice.
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Great news! I hope Barr and Durham are given all the necessary resources to investigate probable coruption that occured. I expect Dimocrats to deflect even more now.
@Jack Simpson:
The penny obviously hasn’t dropped that Trump is the master of deflection, and this is just another example.
@The Great Unwashed: I’m pretty sure Jack is just a Robo Vlad in disguise. No picture, no original tweets, cookie cutter name. If I’m wrong he can prove it by telling us all who the most famous sheep in Ireland is?
@The Great Unwashed:
Are you admitting trump is good at something?
@Edmund Murphy: With the only way to comment requiring a social media account and a lot of people still having no interest in pretending their lives are more interesting than they are, what do you suggest we do?
@Maurice:
Trump is good at plenty of things (lying, throwing playground insults etc.) but none of them are things to be proud of.
@Mary Morrisey: So you comment under news stories but you don’t ever raise topics for comment among friends? Social media doesn’t have to be all photos of dinners and holidays. Maybe shop your opinions amongst your friends and see how many of them agree with you
@Maurice: good one.
@The Great Unwashed: Trump is the master of deflection. It’s a great skill to have when fact free allegations are being unfairly thrown at you everyday. Fortunately, there appears to be substance to the Durham/Barr investigation, probable Biden family corruption, etc.
@Edmund Murphy: Anybody who disagrees with “Edmund” will be labelled a Russian bot. You’ve all been warned.
@Jack Simpson: This is just Trump continuously pushing the boundaries of what he thinks it means to be president and the power that he thinks he wields. This investigation has more to do with what he wants his voters to believe rather than any supposed wrongdoing on the part of the investigators in the mueller report. Master of spin, but that’s about all!
@Jack Simpson: just just never ever seem to have any knowledge of Ireland and your attacks are utterly generic and soulless without any personal stories or opinions. Like you work from a script or an algorithm. I may be wrong. You may just be the most forgettable person on the island.
@Jack Simpson: you could always prove me wrong and answer the sheep question?
@Edmund Murphy: Why would I bring Ireland into it if the article is on a US issue? Personal stories… what are you on about?! Opinions… What I wrote above is an opinion. Do you call everyone who disagrees with you a bot?
@Edmund Murphy: You’re alright pal. I’ll pass on the ‘sheep’ question.
@Jack Simpson: Just answer his question Jack. The name of Ireland’s most famous sheep is Edmund ‘Blackface’ Murphy. Famous for his love of all things Rachel Maddow. Saw him on Ear to the Ground one night chasing a big orange cock around the farmyard, completely obsessed with him so he was. Poor old sheep was driven demented by him.
@Jack Simpson: I agree that there is substance involved in the Durham/Barr investigation,it’s called poop.
@Tom Doyle: Off to bed Tom. It’s way past your bed time.
I’d say the following are sweating bullets at this announcement…
Comey
Brennan
Obama
Clapper
Strzok/Page
McCabe
And let’s not forget ,HR Clinton and Obama.
@➕The Gray➕: and let’s not forget Trump
@Mel Fitzpatrick: Why? Why not forget Trump? Do you think he would open an investigation if he was at fault? Good grief man can you not think a single thought without Trump in it? True insanity and stupidity.
@Frank Mc Caffery: ehm, this is a story about Trump… I’m hoping your statement was sarcastic
@Frank Mc Caffery: you realise that he can’t open an investigation or have influence over an investigation right? Separation of powers and all that. I don’t think anybody is really swearing it over this one.
@Frank Mc Caffery: that’s trump alright. True insanity and stupidity. How that man outstupids himself every single day is truly amazing!!
@Mel Fitzpatrick:
Let’s not forget #WeinersLaptop
@Mel Fitzpatrick:
Someone should grab Comeys passport.
Durham is pursuing lines of criminal investigation that the CIA may have willfully misled the FBI into opening the Russia investigation under false pretences.
@➕The Gray➕: Feck telling someone to grab his passport.
I’m telling someone to buy up loads of shares in aluminium.
@Frank Mc Caffery: he didn’t open this investigation Frank.
@Frank Mc Caffery: HAHAHAHAHA…..Cool your jets Frankie.
@Anne Marie Devlin: No it’s not. It is about the origins of Russiagate.
@Dave O’Keeffe: You do realise that the ‘investigators’ are not above the law and can themselves be investigated?
@Anne Marie Devlin: Nah, it’s about the origins of the Russian hoax, Anne.
@Jack Simpson: care to point out where I said investigators are above the law and can’t be investigated? No? OK, just checking. Next time try to argue against something I actually said.
@➕The Gray➕: that you people are still posting “what about Obama” in 2019 tells the intelligent people amongst us everything we need to know..,
@Dave Hammond: Ah right, so once you’re out of office, all crimes are forgiven. I didn’t know that. Thanks for informing us all with your bountiful intelligence.
@Dave Hammond:
Shhh Dave, Let’s not talk about your saviour, YObama, he can do no wrong.
You’re an awful eejit.
@➕The Gray➕: Still talking and thinking from the orifice of your lower digestive tract. Real Irish people could not give a monkeys toss about the kindergarten play in US politics. Democrats and Republican we could not give a flying feck. However when you present a dressed turd that stinks like Drumpf and then try to convince us he smells like expensive cologne that is a problem. Not for us, but you toady . Only a brain damaged person with no sense of smell would try to do such a thing. Or someone who is being well paid to endure the stink and spout nonsense. Then there are perverts who get off on such things. Very strange.
@➕The Gray➕: Did Obama hurt your pwecious fweelings ;( was it around the time when he wore the tan suit..bold Obama.
@SteoG:
Former FBI general counsel James Baker has reportedly ‘flipped’ and is now cooperating with the Barr-Durham investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation.
Cheer up Steo, your post read like you were raging.
@Tom Doyle:
Ahh stop would ya Liam, have you ever tried doing some stand-up?
Anyways…
Democrats: “John Durham is an unbiased, respected and very honest prosecutor.”
*John Durham begins investigating origins of the Russia witch hunt.*
Democrats: “John Durham is a Russian asset who is working for Putin!! Stop this witch hunt!”
Interesting how that works…
@➕The Gray➕: What I’ve always found interesting about the REpublican led investigations,is that they never accept their findings :-)
@Burn_the_Witch: crimes ? Are you paying attention to what’s happening or just deluded from reality ?
@➕The Gray➕:your delusions are getting concerning – i get it’s an effort to deflect – but concerning all the same. Wasting whatever % of your life constantly spinning deflecting and spouting nonsense about Trump is not healthy man. Low IQ individual. Sad.
It would be entertaining if he wasn’t in such a potent post, egomaniacs should never rule.
@Anthony John Cotter:
A very wise man once said “the only people that can be trusted with power are those that do not want it”.
@Anthony John Cotter: or megalomaniacs.
Can’t believe it’s taken this long. Better late than never. Nobody is above the law as everybody likes to say these days.
Didn’t see that coming. The US has become a banana republic
@Wickla Mountain Runner: How did you not see this coming, it’s been coming for years at this stage.
@Burn_the_Witch: I’m pretty sure that was sarcasm he was using.
@darrenphughes: Pretty sure it’s not, but I’m sure he’ll let us know. Could be though as even the dogs on the street knew this was being investigated and there is so much evidence out in the open now, one would need to be pretty disinterested not to see it coming.
Has trump not resigned yet?
@Stevie Doran: Why? (Only serious responses and no bandwagon-jumping, ad hominem attacks, please.)
@Mary Morrisey: why should he stay? Do you not listen to nor read his very own words? As for his continuos lunatic actions…
@Stevie Doran: is that you, Rip Van Winkle?
@Stevie Doran: to resign you have to be somewhat honorable and that is never used in context of Trump.
The lunatics have finally taken control of the asylum……the tragedy that keeps on giving…
Hmm, once again all the top comments are newly created profiles l. I wonder why they only comment on very specific topics
@Goban Saor: I’m guessing it’s because a lot of people who have no interest in Twitter or Facebook are very interested in what’s going on in the greatest political scandal of our time. That’s pretty feasible, right?
Well done Mr President another great decision MAGA
Like children seeking attention… Tit for tat
@Joseph Molloy: We should be so lucky to have the bureaucracy exposed and fought. Maybe we’d really live up to the lies our government feeds us to stroke our egos, which stops us from questioning anything.
@Mary Morrisey: you joined Twitter a month ago. Zero followers, following, and tweets. Get outta here Vladibotimus Maximus.
@darrenphughes: so sad that you think the amount of twitter followers is so important. Get outta here yerself
Only in trumpland
Hilarious to see so many want to dismiss this out of hand, to impugn motive of Barr/Durham, to be so utterly disinterested in what could turn out to be a bigger scandal than Watergate. Ostrich Parasitic Syndrome. Get your damn heads out of the sand. Start to think for yourselves. Stop relying on journalists/reporters who have abdicated their responsibility by refusing to ask questions that needed to be asked and to be curious.
@Jonathan Moloney: Trump is a treacherous piece of orange excretion. He has nothing going for him other than the support of sycophantic pretenders and of course his boss Vladimir.
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