Special Counsel John Durham has been secretly investigating President Donald Trump over alleged financial crimes, according to reports.
Durham reportedly launched a criminal investigation into Trump while he was supposed to be investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
According to the New York Times, Durham started investigating Trump with the blessing of then-Attorney General Bill Barr.
The Times published the bombshell about Durham as his four-year-long investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe comes to an end.
Durham is preparing his final report but the Times spoke “with more than a dozen current and former officials” to get a sneak peek.
The newspaper is reporting that, while Durham and Barr supposedly turned over every rock to find a link between Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Russian hoax, even going to Europe to investigate claims allegedly made by foreign intelligence agencies, the special counsel got a tip about alleged financial crimes by Trump.
He then opened a criminal investigation into the 45th president with Barr’s blessing, according to the Times.
“On one of Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham’s trips to Europe, according to people familiar with the matter, Italian officials — while denying any role in setting off the Russia investigation — unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes,” the outlet reports.
“Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore.
“But rather than assign it to another prosecutor, Mr. Barr had Mr. Durham investigate the matter himself — giving him criminal prosecution powers for the first time — even though the possible wrongdoing by Mr. Trump did not fall squarely within Mr. Durham’s assignment to scrutinize the origins of the Russia inquiry, the people said.
“Mr. Durham never filed charges, and it remains unclear what level of an investigation it was, what steps he took, what he learned, and whether anyone at the White House ever found out.
“The extraordinary fact that Mr. Durham opened a criminal investigation that included scrutinizing Mr. Trump has remained secret.”
The Times reported that, as part of his probe, Durham was investigating radical billionaire George Soros:
“Mr. Durham used Russian intelligence memos — suspected by other U.S. officials of containing disinformation — to gain access to emails of an aide to George Soros.”
🚨BREAKING: Special Counsel John Durham used Russian intel — suspected of containing disinformation — to gain access to emails of an aide to George Soros, the philanthropist who is a favorite target of the American right.
No Paywall. This is gifted.https://t.co/5eDezl7LRj
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) January 26, 2023
NYT reporting Bill Barr & John Durham got an inconvenient surprise in Italy.
BARR & DURHAM: “Did you have any role in starting the Trump/Russia investigation?”
ITALIAN OFFICIALS: “No, but we do have credible evidence of Trump’s financial crimes.”
Those crimes are still secret. pic.twitter.com/NyR3pRJEFB
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) January 26, 2023
William Barr wanted John Durham to dig into the investigation, but his review found no wrongdoing — and veered into a criminal inquiry related to Donald Trump. https://t.co/TSRmPbhkve
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 26, 2023
