Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler offering some details about the probe of the Trump collusion investigation\u2026<\/b>
\nAssistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler offering some details about the probe of the Trump collusion investigation launched by AG Barr. From Law & Crime:
Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told the House Judiciary Committee that \u201cThe Review\u201d would be \u201cbroad in scope and multifaceted.\u201d He also said that the purpose of it was to \u201cilluminate open questions regarding the activities of U. S. and foreign intelligence services as well as non-governmental organizations and individuals.\u201d
\u201cThe purpose of the Review is to more fully understand the efficacy and propriety of those steps and to answers, to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, those open questions,\u201d Boyd continued.
Notably, nowhere in the letter did Boyd use the word \u201cspying.\u201d
\u201cIt is now well established that, in 2016, the U. S. government and others undertook certain intelligence-gathering and investigate steps directed at persons associate with the Trump Campaign,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cAs the Attorney General has stated publicly at congressional hearings and elsewhere, there remain open questions relating to the origins of this counter-intelligence investigation and the U. S. and foreign intelligence activities took place prior to and during that investigation.\u201d
Last month Barr appointed U. S. Attorney John Durham to carry out the review. The letter points out that Durham will not leave his current job while the review is ongoing. The letter also states that the bulk of the investigation will take place in Washington, DC.
Finally, the letter also attempts to reassure Chairman Nadler that while AG Barr has been granted the authority to declassify documents, the DOJ considers it of \u201cgreat importance \u201d to protect classified information.
As Ed noted last month, Rep. Shiff has already expressed his concern, calling Trump\u2019s granting of this power to AG Barr \u201cun-American.\u201d At the Washington Examiner, Byron York pointed out two weeks ago that we heard similar complaints from Democrats when Trump declassified information that was part of the Nunes memo.
In 2018, Rep. Adam Schiff, of the Intelligence Committee, said the Nunes memo \u201ccrosses a dangerous line.\u201d Recently, he said the Barr initiative marks \u201ca new and dangerous phase.\u201d
In 2018, former Attorney General Eric Holder called the Nunes memo \u201cunheard of\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d and \u201cirresponsible.\u201d Recently, he called the Barr initiative \u201cthe height of irresponsibility\u201d and \u201ca dangerous precedent.\u201d
Many others echoed Brennan\u2019s and Schiff\u2019s and Holder\u2019s sentiments. The problem is, they were wrong then, and they are likely wrong again now.
Democrats have a pre-determined objection to revealing the details of this investigation and are in search of a rationale that would justify it. As Assistant AG Boyd\u2019s letter makes clear, they won\u2019t find it in suggestions that AG Barr is about to carelessly reveal sources and methods. They\u2019ll have to come up with another excuse.<\/p>\n