Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker believes findings from U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into alleged Obama administration wrongdoing during the 2016 election would not fall under the Justice Department’s so-called “60-day rule” with regard to this fall’s election.
The Justice Department has an unwritten policy of seeking not to release information or take actions within 60 days of an election that could have a direct impact on the contest.
That deadline would be in early September, if it applied to the Durham probe.
On Wednesday, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that the bureau used in an application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2017.
Clinesmith’s is the first criminal case to arise from Durham’s investigation, according to The Washington Post.
Whitaker told The Western Journal he expects this is just the first shoe to drop and that more cases could be pursued going into the fall without running afoul of the DOJ’s 60-day policy.
The Iowa native served as attorney general following Jeff Sessions’ resignation in November 2018 until William Barr was confirmed to the post in February 2019. Part of Whitaker’s responsibilities included overseeing then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Kabuki theater anyone? This is for those who believe there is a real investigation taking place!