Barr Asked Foreign Officials to Help Probe of Russia Inquiry Origins

U.S. Attorney General William Barr has met overseas with foreign intelligence officials to seek their help in a Justice Department inquiry into the origins of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The Post said Barr had made overtures to British intelligence officials and last week traveled to Italy, where he and John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut who in reviewing U.S. intelligence work surrounding the 2016 election, met senior Italian government officials and Barr asked the Italians to assist Durham.

The Post said Barr's involvement was likely to spur further criticism by Democrats who are pursuing an inquiry into impeachment of Republican President Donald Trump. 

The DOJ confirmed Barr's outreach.

“As the Department of Justice has previously announced, a team led by U.S. Attorney John Durham is investigating the origins of the U.S. counterintelligence probe of the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Durham is gathering information from numerous sources, including a number of foreign countries," Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement.

"At Attorney General Barr’s request, the President has contacted other countries to ask them to introduce the Attorney General and Mr. Durham to appropriate officials,” she said.