Trump is 'so proud' of Attorney General Bill Barr for investigating how 'hoax' Russia probe started but insists he never asked him to do it
- President Donald Trump said he did not direct Attorney General Bill Barr to appoint a prosecutor to investigate the origins of the Russia probe
- He told reporters that he's 'so proud' of Barr and says it's a 'great thing' he appointed the federal prosecutors
- Barr appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the inception of Mueller's investigation
- Durham will also look into whether the FBI's methods of collecting intelligence on Trump's 2016 campaign were legal
- Durham will have no extra powers than in his current role; details of the team which will assist him have not yet been revealed
President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that he did not direct Attorney General William Barr to open an investigation into how the Russia probe was started.
'No, I didn't ask him to do that,' Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for Louisiana Tuesday morning. 'I didn't know it, but I think it's a great thing that he did it.'
'It was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the people of this country,' Trump said in reference to the Russia investigation. 'And you know what, I am so proud of our attorney general that he is looking into it. I think it's great. I did not know about it, no.'
Barr appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia probe, it was revealed in several reports Monday.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is 'so proud' of Attorney General Bill Barr for appointing a federal prosecutor to investigate the origins of the Russia probe
Barr appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate whether the FBI's methods of collecting intelligence on Trump's 2016 campaign were legal
Durham will examine whether the FBI's methods of collecting intelligence on Trump's 2016 campaign, which ultimately led to the investigation, were legal.
Previously, Durham served as a special prosecutor investigating improper behavior by intelligence officials.
Durham is a federal prosecutor who has previously served as a special prosecutor investigating allegations of impropriety by intelligence officials
The attorney general signaled during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that he wanted to review the law enforcement agency's surveillance of the Trump campaign. He said 'spying did occur,' but clarified that it was not necessarily illegal spying.
Trump and Republicans assert that the FBI used 'illegal' and irregular methods to obtain the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant, which allowed the agency to spy on Trump's campaign adviser Carter Page.
A former lawyer at the FBI admitted that the agency relied heavily on the Steele Dossier, a document authored by former British spy Christopher Steele that Russians allegedly used to blackmail Trump, to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Page.
During the hearing, Barr said it was possible some of the elements of the dossier could be part of a disinformation campaign by Russia.
If it is found that the FBI obtained the FISA warrant to spy on Trump's campaign illegally, it would bring into question the whole origins of the Russia probe.
Barr was brought to testify before the committee in April following the release of a redacted-version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.
Initially, Barr issued a four-page summary of the 448-page report in late March, and later in mid-April gave Congress a version where 10 per cent was blacked out for various reasons. That version was made public.
The report found that Trump, including those within his campaign and administration, had not conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election.
'They want to look at how that whole hoax got started,' Trump said of the federal prosecutor's appointment. 'It was a hoax. And even Mueller – not a friend of mine – even Bob Mueller came out, 'no collusion.''
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Even though the report found there was no collusion, it did outline 10 'episodes' where the president could have potentially attempted to obstruct justice throughout the investigation.
Trump claims the report fully exonerated him from all crimes related to the Russia investigation, but Democrats feel there is enough evidence to begin impeachment proceedings on grounds of obstructing an ongoing investigation.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have subpoenaed Barr to produce the full, unredacted report, complete with grand jury testimony. When he refused, the committee said it would hold Barr in contempt of Congress.
Despite the subpoena, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibit the attorney general from disclosing a matter that occurred before the grand jury. If he were to reveal this information to Congress, he could be held in contempt of court.
