Kamala Harris and 9 Other Dems Call for Investigation Into Durham Investigation | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Eric Quintanar.

    Ten Senate Democrats, including Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), have signed a letter written to the inspector general of the Justice Department calling for an investigation into the investigation of the origins of the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign.

    The official letter, addressed to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, cites several recent media reports that the Democratic senators say suggest that the Durham investigation is being used for partisan politics.

    "We write to request that you investigate whether U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation complies with Department of Justice policies, including policies that protect criminal investigations from political influence," wrote the Senate Democrats in the letter to Horowitz. "The Department's mission 'to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans' requires that its prosecutorial decisions be insulated from political influence. To that end, longstanding rules restrain Department personnel from publicly commenting on public investigations, taking actions that may affect an upcoming election, and communicating with the White House about ongoing criminal investigations."

    The letter cites three specific examples, including a report from the Hartford Courant that a former top assistant to Durham recently resigned over concerns of political influence, and a comment from Attorney General William Barr suggesting that the Durham investigation would yield "significant developments" before the general election in November.

    "These actions suggest that the Durham investigation is being misused for partisan political purposes and undermine the legitimacy of any investigative steps Mr. Durham takes," the letter continued. "In addition, it remains unclear what rules and authority permit the public release of a 'report' by U.S. Attorney Durham, raising additional concerns about the legitimacy of his appointment and work."

    According to The Washington Examiner, the Democrats' letter also cited a comment from White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who said that based on documents he's seen, the Durham investigation would prove troublesome for Obama administration officials who were "willing to participate in an unlawful act, and I use the word unlawful at best. It broke all kinds of protocols, and at worst, people should go to jail."

    The Democratic letter concludes: "We therefore request that your office investigate whether the Durham investigation has operated consistent with Department rules governing the appointment of U.S. Attorneys and the Department rules on public statements concerning pending investigations, taking action that may impact an upcoming election, and White House-Department communications concerning pending criminal investigations."

    As The Daily Wire previously reported, Barr told Fox News in August that "the American people need to know what actually happened, we need to get through the story of what happened in 2016 and 2017, now, out."

    "The second aspect of this is, if people crossed the line, if people involved in that activity violated the criminal law, they will be charged," Barr continued. "And John Durham is an independent man, highly experienced, and his investigation is pursuing apace. There was some delay because of COVID, but I'm satisfied with the progress, and I've said there are going to be developments, significant developments, before the election, but we're not doing this on the election schedule."

    "We're aware of the election, we're not going to do anything inappropriate before the election, but we're not being dictated to by this schedule. What's dictating the timing of this are developments in the case, and there will be developments. Tomorrow, there will be a development in the case — it's not an Earth-shattering development, but it is an indication that things are moving along at the proper pace as dictated by the facts in this investigation," Barr concluded. "When we feel we can prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, it will be charged, I can tell you that."