The Justice Department has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into its own Russia probe The New York Times reports.

The newspaper reports that after former special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE closed the official investigation months ago, a new criminal inquiry will proceed to find out how the investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election and Trump's alleged collusion with Russia "all began."

Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Why a backdoor to encrypted data is detrimental to cybersecurity and data integrity FBI official who worked with Mueller raised doubts about Russia investigation MORE has closely reviewed how the department handled the Russia investigation. But shifting the administrative review to a criminal inquiry would allow the prosecutor presiding over the inquiry, John H. Durham, to subpoena for witness testimony and documents, people familiar with the matter told the Times.

ADVERTISEMENT

It would also enable Durham, a U.S. attorney appointed by Barr to lead the inquiry, to put together a grand jury and to file charges.

When defined as an administrative review, Durham could only voluntarily interview witnesses and investigate government documents, according to the Times. The Times reported it was unclear what specific crime Durham would look into or when the investigation changed from an administrative review.

The threshold needed by the federal government to open a criminal inquiry is "reasonable indication" that a crime has taken place but with "objective, factual basis for initiating the investigation," according to department rules

Updated 9:45 p.m.