DOJ review of intel in Russia probe fuels fears of politicization

A mix of concern, confusion and defiance has spread through elements of the intelligence community as a murky picture emerges of Attorney General William Barr’s review of its investigative and analytical work on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

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In particular, current and former intelligence officials are questioning the purpose and propriety of the attorney general’s intention, first reported by The New York Times, to enlist John Durham, the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, in scrutinizing the analytical judgments that led a group of agencies to conclude that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign to boost then-candidate Trump’s electability…

“I see no problem with a DOJ review of whether the CIA and other intelligence community agencies lived up to their legal and regulatory responsibilities related to how they handled any information related to U.S. persons – U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals,” said Michael Morell, a former CIA deputy director who is a CBS News senior national security contributor. “Having said that, I see a DOJ review of whether or not the intelligence analysts made the right call as wholly inappropriate. I cannot ever remember a DOJ review of analysis.”

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“[Durham] and his team have no experience with, or knowledge of, the process of intelligence analysis,” Morell said. “He and his team could well impose a law enforcement standard in coming to a conclusion — a much higher bar than exists in the intelligence community for analytic judgments.”

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