Barr's 'Obamagate' Prediction May Not Please Trump

Attorney general doesn't expect criminal investigation of Obama, Biden
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2020 12:22 PM CDT
Barr: No, I Don't Expect Investigation of Obama
Attorney General William Barr.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

President Trump has been pushing the "Obamagate" theme of late, but his attorney general just dampened expectations about what Trump and his supporters can expect out of it. William Barr said Monday he doesn't think President Obama or Joe Biden will be investigated over the origins of the Russia investigation, reports Fox News. Barr referenced an inquiry being led by US Attorney John Durham. "Based on the information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr told reporters. “Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others.” Barr did not elaborate on that. Trump has accused the Obama administration of unspecified crimes related to the Russia probe and encouraged investigations, notes the Hill.

Barr did provide Trump with some ammunition, however. “What happened to the president in the 2016 election and throughout the first two years of his administration was abhorrent,” said the attorney general. "It was a grave injustice and it was unprecedented in American history." But, he added, "not every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is necessarily a federal crime." He said he would not be pressured into opening an investigation into Trump's political enemies, per the AP. "The legal tactic has been to gin up allegations of criminality by one’s political opponents based on the flimsiest of legal theories," Barr said. "This is not a good development." (More William Barr stories.)

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