Durham report: Should AG Barr release Russia review before the election?
Congressman Doug Collins discusses the best time to release John Durham's' review of the Russia probe
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga. told “Outnumbered Overtime” on Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr has “every right” to release the results of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the Russia probe's origins before the 2020 election.
Barr repeatedly clashed Tuesday with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee over accusations he is carrying out President Trump's political agenda. At one point, Barr insisted that the November vote will not delay Durham's highly anticipated review of the origins of the Russia investigation.
Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla., asked Barr, “Under oath, do you commit to not releasing any report by Mr. Durham before the November election?"
“No,” the attorney general responded.
“So you won’t go by Department of Justice policy that you won't interfere in any political investigation before the November election?” Mucarsel-Powell asked.
“We won’t interfere," Barr insisted. "In fact, I made it clear I’m not going to tolerate it."
Collins told host Harris Faulkner Wednesday that Barr "should" release Durham's report whenever it is ready.
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“Crime is crime," Collins said, "and what we’re seeing from Durham is, he is investigating criminal activity and if he comes up with the evidence and he’s ready to bring an indictment, it needs to be brought now.
“Remember, what he's investigating was the interference by the Department of Justice under President Obama going into the 2016 election,” he continued. “Is there not a better time to actually expose this, and expose the corruption going on in the previous election, [than] before we actually have another election?
“He has every right to get that out, because a crime is a crime and that's what he needs to look at,” Collins concluded.
Barr told Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview last month that Durham’s investigation will likely yield "developments" before summer is over, despite delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Collins said that based on the release of newly declassified documents “everybody's getting the picture” that “[Former FBI Director] Jim Comey and [former acting FBI Director] Andrew McCabe and [former FBI agent] Peter Strzok and [former FBI lawyer] Lisa Page, and [former CIA Director John] Brennan and [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, and even President Obama and Vice President Biden, they were all a part of this.
“They know it,” Collins said. “Now it's just a matter of holding them accountable for it and seeing where we can go from there.”
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Collins, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, described the FBI and Justice Department's actions in the Russia probe as "anathema to all of American politics.”
“You don't need a Department of Justice and an FBI that are actually spying on U.S. citizens, who were trying to influence an election of a candidate and then a president, after he got elected, to disrupt his administration,” Collins continued. “Everybody ought to be concerned about that.”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
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