The federal prosecutor probing the origins of the government's Trump-Russia investigation is examining the role of former CIA director John O. Brennan and has requested his communication records.

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham, the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut, is investigating the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russia led by Attorney General William P. Barr in May.

At first the inquiry was an administrative review in October, but later turned into a criminal investigation.

Now Durham is honing in on the communications of ex-CIA Director Brennan by requesting his emails, call longs and other documents from the CIA, a source briefed on the inquiry said to the New York Times.

U.S. Attorney John H. Durham (left), the federal prosecutor investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, has requested the communications of CIA Director John O. Brennan (right) to see how he interacted with other officials, the CIA's views on the dossier, and to see if he privately contradicted his public comments

Durham wants to know what Brennan told other officials - including former FBI director James B. Comey - about his and the CIA's views of the dossier that first raised concerns about Russia and Trump associates.

That document, known as the Steele dossier, was a private intelligence report written from June to December 2016 that alleged misconduct, conspiracy and cooperation between Donald Trump's campaign in the 2016 election and the government of Russia.

Durham is also investigating whether Brennan privately contradicted his public comments, including statements made in his May 2017 testimony to Congress.

Brennan served as the director of the CIA from March 2013 to January 2017 under President Barack Obama.

During his time in office he was a harsh critic of President Donald Trump and in the end he was ungracefully booted from the White House when Trump revoked his security clearance.

In August 2016, Brennan said Trump's claim of no collusion with Russia was 'hogwash'.

Durham wants to know what Brennan told other officials - including former FBI director James B. Comey - about his and the CIA's views of the dossier that first raised concerns about Russia and Trump associates

At the moment Durham's investigation is ongoing and it's not clear what crimes, if any, have been discovered.

Donald Trump has tried to use the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies and has alleged that Obama administration officials have been trying to sabotage his campaign since he entered office.

The Trump administration sees Durham's investigation as a potential way to prove those claims.

Defenders of Brennan say he did nothing wrong in his role and did the right thing in flagging and investigating Russian interference in the election.

In an interview with MSNBC in the fall Brennan said he'd cooperate fully with Durham's investigation.

'I feel good about what it is we did as an intelligence community, and I feel very confident and comfortable with what I did, so I have no qualms whatsoever about talking with investigators who are going to be looking at this in a fair and appropriate manner,' Brennan said.

'I feel good about what it is we did as an intelligence community, and I feel very confident and comfortable with what I did, so I have no qualms whatsoever about talking with investigators who are going to be looking at this in a fair and appropriate manner,' Brennan said in an interview in the fall. Brennan pictured testifying on Russian meddling on Capitol Hill on May

Durham has led several high-profile investigations into allegations of wrongdoing in the CIA's detainee torture program.

He was appointed this year by Attorney General William P. Barr to re-examine the origins of the FBI Russia prove and more broadly how the U.S. government uncovered Moscow's election interference and responded to those findings.

'He is not just looking at the F.B.I. He is looking at other agencies,' Barr said in a broadcast Thursday evening. 'He is looking at all the conduct — both before and after the election.'

In January 2017 the intelligence community released a report culling information from the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency on Russian meddling. That report concluded Russian president President Vladimir V. Putin ordered an influence campaign to damage Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and boost Trump's.

Barr has previously expressed his doubts over whether the FBI even had enough information to launched that inquiry in 2016.