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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Bull Durham at Justice
Bill Barr's latest appointment reminds us how the department should operate.
By
Kimberley A. Strassel
Updated May 16, 2019 7:24 p.m. ET
Attorney General William Barr in Washington
Better late than never: Attorney General William Barr has tasked U.S.
Attorney John Durham to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia
investigation. If the Justice Department had done this two years ago, the
country would be in a much better place.
Mr. Barr has made clear that he intends to restore his department's
credibility. The Durham appointment is a perfect example of that effort.
This is how Justice ought to operate, from the nature of the probe to the
choice of prosecutor. It's a striking contrast to the hash that became of
the Mueller investigation.
Mr. Barr gets credit for not naming Mr. Durham a "special counsel." Former
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein succumbed to Democratic
special-counsel demands two years ago this month, with all the predictable
results. The rampaging investigation prosecuted Americans for everything
other than the "collusion" it was supposed to uncover. It became a black
hole, the subject of endless media speculation-and a cudgel for Democrats to
use against the Trump presidency.
Special counsels are only supposed to be appointed when the Justice
Department is clearly too conflicted to investigate a matter. No one doubts
that the in-house Mr. Durham is capable of making an impartial assessment of
the individuals and actions that launched the Trump-Russia probe. Then
again, Justice also had the ability to investigate the original Trump-Russia
story. It was just a matter of getting the right person to run the
investigation.
Which is why Mr. Barr also gets credit for choosing Mr. Durham in
particular. The Connecticut prosecutor is a straight arrow. Even Chris
Murphy, Mr. Durham's home state Democratic senator, praised him this week as
"apolitical," "serious," and "fair." In a 37-year tenure at the Justice
Department, Mr. Durham has served six presidents. Federal records show he
has never donated to a political candidate. He's the antithesis of a
showboater; he doesn't do news conferences and he doesn't do leaks.
Mr. Durham has also specialized in investigations into government
actors-from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Central Intelligence
Agency to political figures. The record shows that he doesn't bring
prosecutions lightly, but also isn't afraid to hold the powerful to account.
I've confirmed he'll be joined by the highly respected Nora Dannehy. Ms.
Dannehy was herself once the U.S. attorney in Connecticut and in 2008 led
the probe into the George W. Bush administration's controversial firing of
U.S. attorneys. She only recently returned to Justice from private practice
and is working as counsel in Mr. Durham's office.
The esteemed duo can give the public confidence that Justice and FBI actions
are getting a fair and thorough look. If only such neutral picks had been
put on the case in 2017. Even at the time of Mr. Mueller's appointment, it
was clear the FBI had played a starring role in the Trump-Russia collusion
narrative. The decision to put the former head of the FBI in charge of the
investigation sowed public doubt as to how thorough it would be. Mr. Mueller
made it worse by choosing for his team numerous people who had worked on the
FBI's Trump-Russia investigation-and Clinton donors to boot.
Mr. Barr is staying personally involved, which will be vital to the probe's
early success. Mr. Durham will look beyond the FBI to the CIA and other
intelligence bodies. Because this is still a review (rather than a criminal
investigation) he doesn't have subpoena power and needs cooperation. Mr.
Barr is the right person to serve as facilitator and has already met with
CIA Director Gina Haspel, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of
National Intelligence Dan Coats.
The attorney general has also rationalized existing probes. In 2017
then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions tapped John Huber, the U.S. attorney for
Utah, to look at issues primarily related to Hillary Clinton-including
Clinton Foundation ties to Russia and the Uranium One controversy.
The only piece of the Trump-Russia story in Mr. Huber's portfolio was the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant against Trump campaign adviser
Carter Page. Mr. Huber had been waiting on Justice Department Inspector
General Michael Horowitz's findings, which are due shortly. Now I'm told the
FISA piece has been transferred to Mr. Durham, and Mr. Huber should issue
his other findings soon.
Because Mr. Durham is operating as a U.S. attorney and not as a freewheeling
special counsel, he will share findings with the attorney general as his
review progresses. Based on what we've seen so far from Mr. Barr, expect him
to be as transparent with information as possible-especially with regard to
Congress. What a refreshing departure from a Justice Department that for two
years used the Mueller probe as its excuse not to comply with Congressional
oversight.
Americans demand a few basic things from government-accountability,
transparency, blind justice. We are finally-two years late-getting them.
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