NY Times

DOJ Wants to Interview 2 CIA Officers in ‘Spygate’ Probe

By Solange Reyner | Wednesday, 12 June 2019

The Department of Justice wants to interview two CIA officers in its “Spygate” probe, a sign of Attorney General William Barr’s interest in finding out more about the sources the agency relied on to assess Russia’s goals in interfering in the 2016 presidential election, The New York Times reports.

U.S. Attorney John Durham, the DOJ official leading the review, wants to speak with a senior CIA counterintelligence official and a senior CIA analyst who handled intelligence related to Russia’s efforts.

Barr in April told senators during a congressional hearing he believed spying did occur during the presidential race, and “spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”

President Donald Trump for years has claimed possible abuses of power by a handful of senior FBI officials and possibly others in the intelligence community and the Obama administration, but more pointedly following Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel in 2017.

Per the Times, CIA Director Gina Haspel has said she will not block the interviews and her agency will cooperate with the DOJ.

The investigation could extend into the work of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other agencies, but Barr is specifically interested in how information flowed from the FBI to the CIA during the probe and how the CIA concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia operatives to assist Trump’s campaign and damage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s.

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