Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) are asking Justice DOJ watchdogs to probe potential talks between AG William Barr and White House staff about investigations spinning off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

A trio of Senate Democrats on Monday sent a letter to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Office of Professional Responsibility Director Corey Amundson requesting that they investigate if Barr shared the names of spinoff cases with White House staff.

“It would be highly inappropriate if Mr. Barr did in fact share case names with, and by default revealed the identity of, any defendants in those cases to the White House, particularly given that those same cases have been shielded from public view in the Special Counsel’s report,” the senators wrote.

The three senators added in their letter that discussing case names could “interfere” with the ongoing investigations, which they argued “could implicate the conduct of individuals in the White House, including the president, his family, and his business associates.”





Last week Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had not had any “substantive” talks with the White House staff about the 14 cases Mueller referred to the Justice Department but that “it’s possible a name of a case was mentioned.”

The senators are requesting that the Justice Department officials investigate Specifically if any “improper communications” have occurred or whether Mr. Barr revealed any names of any of the 14 cases referred by Special Counsel Mueller, or the defendants in those cases, to the White House staff.

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