Sources tell Fox News that John Durham could ‘punt’ Russia probe origin findings until after Election Day
Justice delayed is justice denied, says K.T. McFarland, former deputy national security adviser and author of ‘Revolution: Trump, Washington and We the People.’
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Monday said he believes there “will be” and “should be” more indictments coming from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, based on the “intelligence” he has access to.
“I think there will be more indictments,” Ratcliffe said during an exclusive interview on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria.”
DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA DOCUMENTS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW
“Based on the intelligence I have access to, I certainly believe that there should be,” he said.
Ratcliffe, earlier this month, said that he has already provided 1,000 pages of material to the Justice Department to support Durham’s investigation.
“At my direction, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has now provided almost 1,000 pages of materials to the Department of Justice in response to Mr. Durham’s document requests,” Ratcliffe said in a statement Wednesday. “I will continue to ensure the Intelligence Community’s responsiveness to the DOJ’s requests.”
Ratcliffe added that officials at ODNI “look forward to supporting the DOJ in further declassifications consistent with their investigation.”
“As the president has made clear, we must be appropriately transparent with the American people and give them the confidence that the extraordinary work of Intelligence professionals is never misused or politicized,” Ratcliffe said.
The president, earlier this month, “fully authorized the total declassification” of any and all documents related to the Russia investigation. Trump, in May 2019, following the completion of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, gave Barr the authority to begin a declassification process of documents related to surveillance of the Trump campaign in 2016.
Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election.
Thus far, the Trump administration has declassified a number of documents, which allies of the president have cast as significant, citing their content as proof that the investigation into the president and his first campaign was baseless.
Durham was appointed by Attorney General Barr last year to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe shortly after Mueller completed his yearslong investigation into whether the campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Durham’s timeline has been focused on July 2016, when the FBI’s original Russia probe began, through the appointment of Mueller in May 2017.
Durham’s investigation has been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, but that has not blunted the level of anticipation from President Trump, his Republican allies on Capitol Hill and his supporters, some of whom have called for findings to be released before November’s presidential election.
The investigation has produced one criminal charge so far, against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who was accused of altering an email related to the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide. But that prosecution did not allege a broader conspiracy within the FBI, and the conduct it involved had largely been laid out in a Justice Department inspector general report from last December.
It is not clear if Durham will be able to conclude his work before the election, though Barr has not ruled out the possibility of additional criminal charges.
In July, though, Fox News reported that Durham could wait to reveal his findings or initiate further prosecutions until after the 2020 presidential election.
Two sources familiar with Durham’s investigation told Fox News at the time that Durham was working expeditiously to try to finish the probe before Labor Day — which he did not — but that several lines of the investigation had not yet been completed.
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“He believes it’s critical to do them,” one source said at the time. “He is feeling more pressure to get this done and wrapped up.”
The source also told Fox News that Durham “does not want this to be viewed political,” and the closer it gets to November, Durham could “punt it to after the election.”
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