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EXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>U.S. Attorney\u00a0John Durham<\/a> is under pressure to wrap up his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe by the end of the summer, but if he doesn\u2019t,\u00a0he could wait to reveal his findings or initiate prosecutions until after the 2020 presidential election, Fox News has learned.<\/p>\n

Two sources familiar with Durham\u2019s investigation told Fox News this week that Durham is working expeditiously to try to finish the probe by the end of summer, but that several lines of investigation are not yet complete.<\/p>\n

DURHAM MOVING ‘FULL-THROTTLE’ ON RUSSIA PROBE REVIEW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe believes it\u2019s critical to do them,\u201d one source said. \u201cHe is feeling more pressure to get this done and wrapped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source also told Fox News that Durham \u201cdoes not want this to be viewed political,\u201d and the closer it gets to November, Durham could \u201cpunt it to after the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Durham declined to comment on the status of the investigation.<\/p>\n

The president himself on Thursday appeared to express\u00a0anger over the Russia probe, tweeting “PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!”\u00a0and lamenting how “it is a disgrace that nothing happens.”<\/p>\n

Some Republicans are pushing for the probe to come to a conclusion soon.\u00a0Earlier this week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said it was \u201cSAD\u201d that Attorney General Bill Barr and Durham could wait until after Election Day to initiate prosecutions.<\/p>\n

“@realDonaldTrump\u00a0#CommonSense IF NO PROSECUTIONS TIL AFTER ELECTIONS SAD SAD \/\/just think Flynn Mueller Impeachment\/ The deep state is so deep that ppl get away w political crimes\/Durham shld be producing some fruit of his labor [sic],”\u00a0Grassley tweeted.<\/p>\n

Grassley added: “Barr recently said ‘this is the closest we have ever come to an organized effort to push a president out of office ‘\u00a0leads me to think Durham wont report any prosecutions til after election so as not influence vote. SAD SAD.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was an apparent reference to Barr’s comments on Fox News’ “Special Report”<\/a> in June.<\/p>\n

“I think before the election, I think we’re concerned about the motive force behind the very aggressive investigation that was launched into the Trump campaign without, you know, with a very thin, slender reed as a basis for it,” Barr told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “It seemed that the bureau was sort of spring-loaded at the end of July to drive in there and investigate a campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

But,\u00a0Barr<\/a>\u00a0later announced in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo<\/a> that Durham’s investigation<\/a>\u00a0of the Russia probe’s origins will likely yield “developments” before summer is over, despite delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Barr told Fox News last month that Americans be able to recognize “some” of the names under investigation in Durham’s probe, and that he is “very troubled” by “what has been called to” his attention so far. Among other issues, Durham is reviewing whether federal agencies abused their surveillance powers to pursue figures associated with the Trump campaign.<\/p>\n

A source told Fox News that the “pattern of conduct” Durham is investigating includes misrepresentations made to the FISA court to obtain warrants to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page.<\/p>\n

DOJ SPOKESWOMAN: ‘THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE RESOLUTION OF DURHAM INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIA PROBE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Last month, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein<\/a>\u00a0— who oversaw the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller —\u00a0testified\u00a0that he would not have signed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant renewal application for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page had he known about\u00a0since-revealed “significant errors” in in the document.<\/p>\n

Mueller\u2019s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and\u00a0Russian officials\u00a0during the 2016 election, though the question of whether Trump obstructed justice was left open in the final report.<\/p>\n

Following Mueller\u2019s investigation, Barr appointed Durham to then investigate the origins of the FBI\u2019s original Russia probe, which began in July 2016, through the appointment of Mueller in May 2017.<\/p>\n

Durham\u2019s team includes a number of federal prosecutors, including Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri who was tapped by the DOJ in February to review the case against Michael Flynn.\u00a0In May, Barr also tapped U.S. Attorney for Western Texas John Bash to launch a more focused review on the process of unmasking.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department also revealed that Durham, himself, is investigating the unmasking of Trump campaign associates as part of his broader review. That line of investigation was confirmed after Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made public a list of Obama officials who purportedly requested to \u201cunmask\u201d the identity of Michael Flynn, who\u00a0at the time\u00a0was Trump\u2019s incoming national security adviser.<\/p>\n

Unmasking occurs after U.S. citizens’ conversations are incidentally picked up in\u00a0conversations with foreign officials who are being monitored by the intelligence community. The U.S. citizens’ identities are supposed to be protected if their participation is\u00a0incidental and no wrongdoing is suspected. However, officials can determine the U.S. citizens’ names through a process that is supposed to safeguard their rights.\u00a0In the typical process, when officials are requesting the unmasking of an American, they do not necessarily know the identity of the person in advance.<\/p>\n

The roster featured top-ranking figures including then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Obama\u2019s then-chief of staff Denis McDonough.<\/p>\n

Barr, though, has said that he does not expect Durham’s findings\u00a0will lead to a \u201ccriminal investigation\u201d of either former\u00a0President Barack Obama<\/a>\u00a0or former Vice President Joe Biden — while noting that their concern of \u201cpotential criminality\u201d in the conduct of that probe is \u201cfocused on others.\u201d<\/p>\n

BARR SAYS HE DOES NOT EXPECT CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF OBAMA OR BIDEN OUT OF DURHAM PROBE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Barr, earlier this year,\u00a0said that \u201cnot every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is necessarily a federal crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement based on what I know, I don\u2019t expect Durham\u2019s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,\u201d Barr said. \u201cOur concern of potential criminality is focused on others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, sources told Fox News that Durham\u2019s team had been doing their work out of New Haven, Conn. amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Attorney\u00a0John Durham is under pressure to wrap up his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe by the end of the summer, but if he doesn\u2019t,\u00a0he could wait to reveal his findings or initiate prosecutions until after the 2020 presidential election, Fox News has learned.Two sources familiar with Durham\u2019s investigation told Fox…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[3528,273],"class_list":{"0":"post-54609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-durham","9":"tag-pressure"},"yoast_head":"\n