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John Durham<\/p><\/div>\n
Washington<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Congressional Democrats who fear Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham may be conducting a partisan investigation into the origins of the FBI\u2019s probe into Russian meddling in U.S. elections are calling on him to resign.<\/p>\n Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.,\u00a0has written<\/a>\u00a0Attorney General William Barr and Durham, saying \u201cneither of you possess the integrity necessary to serve in the Department of Justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Signed by 10 of Johnson\u2019s House Democratic colleagues\u2014but none from Connecticut \u2013 the letter\u2019s demand for Barr\u2019s resignation is not unique.<\/p>\n In May, for instance, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Barr should \u201cprobably resign\u201d because, the senator said, the attorney general had mislead the public about the conclusions of former special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s report into Russian meddling.<\/p>\n But calls for Durham\u2019s resignation are new.<\/p>\n The letter \u2014 signed by Johnson, Reps. \u00a0Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and five other progressive Democrats \u2014 said Barr and Durham should be ousted because they \u201cinappropriately interfered in independent Department of Justice \u00a0investigations and intentionally used (their) positions to mislead the American public in defense of President Donald J. Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter was prompted by the response of Durham and Barr to Inspector General Michael Horowitz\u2019s recently issued report on his own investigation of the origins of the Russia probe.<\/p>\n Both men issued statements critical of Horowitz\u2019s report.<\/p>\n Durham\u2019s statement was opaque, saying \u201cbased on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report\u2019s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.\u201d<\/p>\n Barr, meanwhile, launched a campaign aimed at discrediting the inspector general\u2019s conclusion that the FBI acted appropriately when it launched an investigation into whether the Trump campaign wittingly or unwittingly helped Russia influence the election in Trump\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Barr, you even went so far as to suggest during an interview on Tuesday, December 10 that the FBI under the Obama administration was a greater threat to our democracy than Russia,\u201d the lawmaker\u2019s letter said, \u201cYour uncorroborated and inappropriate statements on the OIG report legitimize fringe conspiracy theories and erode public trust in the Justice Department\u2019s credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Durham is equally as complicit\u201d in the mission to discredit Horowitz\u2019s report, the lawmakers wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe demand your immediate resignation as Attorney General and that of U.S. Attorney Durham,\u201d the letter concludes.<\/p>\n The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment about the letter.<\/p>\n The offices of Connecticut\u2019s Democratic lawmakers, who are on break, also did not respond Monday to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Durham, who has been tight lipped about this investigation and previous cases he\u2019s handled, surprised many with his statement about the inspector general\u2019s report.<\/p>\n In a Washington Post op-ed<\/a>\u00a0this month, former Attorney General Eric Holder cautioned him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone in Durham\u2019s shoes would do well to remember that, in dealing with this administration, many reputations have been irrevocably lost,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Holder tapped Durham in 2009 to investigate the alleged torture and killing of terror suspects by CIA interrogators. and said in his op-ed that he has been proud to know Connecticut\u2019s U.S. Attorney for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n There are also concerns over Durham\u2019s trips with Barr overseas to collect \u201cevidence\u201d of what Democrats say are Trump conspiracy theories into the origins of the FBI\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n And, last week, Barr indicated that Durham\u2019s probe has expanded beyond the FBI.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is not just looking at the FBI,\u201d Barr said in an interview on Fox News. \u201cHe is looking at other agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n