As John Durham's inquiry shifts into a full-blown criminal investigation, Washington faces the bizarre spectacle of CIA officers availing themselves of their 5th Amendment right to remain silent on their knowledge of any chicanery behind the federal surveillance of the Trump campaign.
Durham opened a criminal inquiry in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and into the conduct of the Justice Department, FBI and intelligence system during their scrutiny of purported connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. By launching a criminal probe, the federal prosecutor gains the power to subpoena witnesses, impanel one or more grand juries and to seek indictments.
John Durham
closes in on spookdom
CIA officials have expressed alarm at developments, according to the Washington Examiner. It has been reported that CIA employees are "lawyering up" in preparation for questioning by Durham's team. It is standard practice for defense lawyers to urge their clients not to speak with prosecutors -- unless they have some sort of plea bargain. Hence it will be difficult for the intelligence professionals to avoid shielding themselves with the 5th Amendment, regardless of the political consequences to the get-Trumpers in the Deep State.
The Examiner reported earlier this week that the hush-hush special Justice Department inquiry includes scrutiny of former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, and commercial spy Christopher Steele, who formerly worked for the British intelligence agency MI6.
Durham's investigative portfolio was recently expanded to include not only circumstances of the launch of the Russiagate inquiry in 2015 or 2016, but to cover events through Robert Mueller's appointment as a special counsel in 2017. The prosecutor, who is U.S. attorney for Connecticut, has taken overseas fact-finding trips with Attorney General William Barr, who was given “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry in May.
Durham opened a criminal inquiry in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and into the conduct of the Justice Department, FBI and intelligence system during their scrutiny of purported connections between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. By launching a criminal probe, the federal prosecutor gains the power to subpoena witnesses, impanel one or more grand juries and to seek indictments.
John Durham
closes in on spookdom
CIA officials have expressed alarm at developments, according to the Washington Examiner. It has been reported that CIA employees are "lawyering up" in preparation for questioning by Durham's team. It is standard practice for defense lawyers to urge their clients not to speak with prosecutors -- unless they have some sort of plea bargain. Hence it will be difficult for the intelligence professionals to avoid shielding themselves with the 5th Amendment, regardless of the political consequences to the get-Trumpers in the Deep State.
The Examiner reported earlier this week that the hush-hush special Justice Department inquiry includes scrutiny of former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, and commercial spy Christopher Steele, who formerly worked for the British intelligence agency MI6.
Durham's investigative portfolio was recently expanded to include not only circumstances of the launch of the Russiagate inquiry in 2015 or 2016, but to cover events through Robert Mueller's appointment as a special counsel in 2017. The prosecutor, who is U.S. attorney for Connecticut, has taken overseas fact-finding trips with Attorney General William Barr, who was given “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the Trump-Russia inquiry in May.
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