Special counsel John Durham — the prosecutor examining the origins of the FBI’s investigation into a possible conspiracy between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign — has used a grand jury in recent months to seek documents and witness testimony, according to people familiar with the matter.

The burst of activity signals Durham’s inquiry, now more than two years old, remains active and is examining possible crimes — though it is unclear whether it has uncovered evidence that will ultimately support more charges. Durham’s recent inquiries, those familiar with the matter said, appear to focus on whether people outside of government might have given the FBI fabricated or exaggerated evidence to spur investigations, which could be a crime…

Durham’s most recent inquiries, people familiar with the matter say, have focused in part on the authenticity of data given to the FBI about alleged cyber links between the former president’s company and Alfa Bank of Russia — a theory pushed to journalists by some computer scientists in the fall of 2016 on the basis of purported server connections they had discovered. The theory — which generated public pushback after it was published by Slate — essentially posited that Domain Name System lookups from Alfa Bank servers to a server with a Trump Organization-linked domain could signal a secret communications channel.

One of the researchers told the New Yorker in a story published in 2018 that his lawyer passed along the data to the FBI. Michael Sussmann, a Perkins Coie lawyer whose firm represented the DNC and the Clinton campaign, testified to the House Intelligence Committee in December 2017 that he talked with the FBI’s then general counsel, Jim Baker, in September 2016 about the information. Baker testified that he referred the matter to investigators.