Confirmed: AG Barr and U.S. Atty. John Durham Traveled to Italy to Question Officials About Russia Hoax

American Greatness

Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham met with senior government officials in Italy last week, where Barr asked the Italians to assist Durham in his probe of the U.S. intelligence activities during the 2016 election and its aftermath, the Washington Post reported Monday.

American Greatness reported over the weekend that Barr had quietly traveled to Italy last week on “official business,” although the Department of Justice had provided few details about the trip. It was apparently not his first trip to Italy to meet intelligence officials, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The Trump administration has reportedly also reached out to officials in Great Britain, Australia and Ukraine for help investigating the role of those countries in the Russia hoax.

A Department of Justice team led by Durham is “exploring the extent to which a number of countries, including Ukraine, played a role in the counterintelligence investigation directed at the Trump campaign during the 2016 election,” Former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s wrote Monday in the Wall Street Journal. “While the Attorney General has yet to contact Ukraine in connection with this investigation, certain Ukrainians who are not members of the government have volunteered information to Mr. Durham, which he is evaluating.”

The New York Times reported on Monday [based on another anonymous leak] that President Trump in a recent phone call urged Australia’s prime minister to provide assistance to the ongoing Justice Department inquiry. Trump made the request for cooperation at Barr’s urging, according to the Justice Department.

Former Trump Campaign adviser George Papadopoulos charged in May that senior Australian diplomat Alexander Downer was a Western asset who was sent to London to make contact with him.

Papadopoulos said he was targeted in London and Rome by FBI (and possibly CIA) informants, Stefan Halper, Azra Turk, Joseph Mifsud, and Downer.

The Australian met Papadopoulos at an upscale bar in London in May of 2016, where the Trump adviser supposedly spilled what he knew about the the Russians having Clinton dirt.

Downer is believed to have reported what he learned to Australian authorities, who in turn told the FBI, leading to its counterintelligence investigation into the Trump Campaign code-named “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Papadopoulos was thrilled at the news that the United States Justice Department was starting to zero in on Australia’s role in the Russia-Gate farce.

DOJ spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said: “Mr. Durham is gathering information from numerous sources, including a number of foreign countries. At Attorney General Barr’s request, the President has contacted other countries to ask them to introduce the Attorney General and Mr. Durham to appropriate officials.”

A spokesperson for the Australian government said in a statement that it has “always been ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation. The [prime minister] confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President.”