ATTORNEY GENERAL/CIA/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Justice Department will request interviews with senior Central Intelligence Agency officers as part of Attorney General William Barr’s review of the origins of the 2016 Russia investigation and surveillance surrounding then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, The New York Times reported Wednesday [6-12-19]. The interview plans indicate the department is focused partly on the conclusion by the US intelligence community that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an ‘influence campaign’ aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton and helping Trump in the 2016 presidential election, the Times reports. The Justice Department review, while not a criminal inquiry, has provoked anxiety within the CIA, former officials tell the Times. Senior agency officials question why the CIA’s analytical work should be scrutinized by a federal prosecutor, according to the Times. The interview requests have not been formally submitted, the Times reports, but US Attorney John Durham will seek the interviews.”
–Kate Sullivan, “New York Times: DOJ to request interviews with CIA officers in Barr inquiry,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 12, 2019 8:21 pm