'Pure insanity': Intelligence veterans are floored by Barr's 'off the books' overtures to foreign officials about the Russia probe

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• Intelligence veterans were puzzled by revelations that Attorney General William Barr personally urged foreign officials to cooperate with a Justice Department investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
• "This is unheard of," one former senior Justice Department official who worked closely with the former special counsel Robert Mueller when he was FBI director, told Insider.
• The Washington Post reported that Barr has already made overtures to British intelligence officials about the matter and traveled to Italy last week to ask senior Italian officials to cooperate with the inquiry.
• The New York Times reported that Barr also asked President Donald Trump to ask the Australian prime minister to cooperate with the investigation. And Trump named Barr as his personal envoy when making a similar request in July to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• "There are people at DOJ whose whole job is to coordinate investigative efforts with foreign governments," a longtime former federal prosecutor told Insider. "Makes a person wonder why Barr didn't trust them to do this stuff. Something he didn't trust career-DOJ people to do? Something more political than justice-related?"
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National security veterans were flummoxed Monday by revelations that Attorney General William Barr traveled overseas and personally asked top foreign intelligence officials to help with a Justice Department inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Barr has already made overtures to British intelligence officials and last week traveled to Italy, where he and John Durham, the US attorney in charge of investigating the Russia probe's origins, asked senior Italian government officials to assist with Durham's work. The report said it was not Barr's first trip to Italy to meet with intelligence officials.

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See Also:

• Trump pressed Australia's prime minister to help AG Barr investigate the origins of the Russia probe
• Senate Republicans have barely challenged Trump over Ukraine. Don't expect them to turn against him in an impeachment trial.
• A Nevada Congressman is the first House Republican to support the Trump impeachment inquiry

SEE ALSO: Trump pressed Australia's prime minister to help AG Barr investigate the origins of the Russia probe

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