Graham Asks Foreign Countries To Cooperate With Russiagate Origin Investigation

Following a Tuesday report by the New York Times that President Trump “pressed” Australia’s Prime Minister into cooperating with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation into the origins of the Mueller probe, the MSM lost their marbles – bloviating (without articulating) that Trump’s discussion was beyond the pale, and Trump clearly coerced him into something.

Less than an hour later, Australian PM Scott Morrison put their aspersions to bed – stating “The Australian Government has always been ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation. The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President.”

To be clear, the left feels that any investigation of potential FBI wrongdoing is off-limits. Perhaps they’re afraid of what Barr and his team may uncover? 

Related: The media has no reason to blast William Barr for his doing his job (The Hill)

On Wednesday, perhaps in an effort to get ahead of Democrat efforts to undermine Barr, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sent a letter to three foreign governments, urging them to cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe into the origins of the Russia probe.

Graham’s letter was addressed to Italy, Austria and the United Kingdom. 

“That the attorney general is holding meetings with your countries to aid in the Justice Department’s investigation of what happened is well within the bounds of his normal activities. He is simply doing his job,” wrote Graham, adding “your country’s continued cooperation with Attorney General Barr as the Department of Justice continues to investigate the origins and extent of foreign influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”

Graham noted in his letter that “it appears” the United States used “foreign intelligence as part of their efforts to investigate and monitor the 2016 election.” 

Graham had said earlier this week that he was planning to send the letters in the wake of the New York Times reporting that Trump had reached out to the Australian government to assist Barr as part of the DOJ investigation. The Justice Department subsequently confirmed the report. 

“This New York Times article is an effort to stop Barr. … What are they afraid of? This really bothers me a lot that the left is going to try to say there’s something wrong with Barr talking to Australia, Italy and the United Kingdom,” Graham said during a Fox News interview earlier this week. –The Hill

Barr has reportedly been in contact with UK and Italian officials. 

In May, President Trump said he wanted Attorney General William Barr to investigate the UK, Australia and Ukraine for their roles in the ‘greatest hoax in the history of our country.’

“It’s the greatest hoax probably in the history of our country and somebody has to get to the bottom of it. We’ll see. For a long period of time, they wanted me to declassify and I did,” he said. 

After the Mueller report made clear that Trump and his campaign had in no way conspired with Russia during hte 2016 election, Democrats immediately pivoted to whether Trump obstructed the investigation. Trump and his supporters, however, immediately pivoted to the conduct of the US intelligence community, including the involvement of foreign actors and possibly their governments. 

Meanwhile, an email exchange in late 2016 referred to the infamous Steele Dossier as “crown material,” suggesting UK intelligence may have played a role in the opposition research conducted by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele on behalf of the Clinton campaign. 

*** (As we noted in May) ***

Moreover, much of “Operation Crossfire Hurricane” – the FBI’s official investigation into the Trump campaign – occurred on UK soil, which is perhaps why the New York Times reported last September that the UK begged Trump not to declassify ‘Russiagate’ documents ‘without redaction.’  

Shortly after he announced his involvement with the Trump campaign, aide George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor and self-described Clinton foundation member Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had damaging information on Hillary Clinton. It was later at a London bar that Papadopoulos would drunkenly pass the rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer (who FBI agent Peter Strzok flew to London to meet with the day after Crossfire Hurricane was launched). 

Two weeks later, Papadopoulos would be bilked for information by Australian diplomat (another Clinton ally) Alexander Downer at a London bar, who relayed the Russia rumor to Australian authorities, which alerted the FBI (as the story goes), which ‘officially’ kicked off the US intelligence investigation. 

No wonder Democrats are freaking out about Barr’s investigation…