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Some of the president’s supporters have suggested Ukraine had a more direct role in the 2016 investigation than currently known, an assertion denied by current and former officials who were involved in the original probe.

A person familiar with Barr’s interactions with foreign officials described them as being official introductions to Durham. The attorney general “is telling people he wants to make sure that the rules governing U.S. agencies have been followed,” this person said.

A spokesperson for the CIA declined to comment, citing the ongoing review.

Photo by REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A former senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation denied that the CIA was involved in monitoring any members of the Trump campaign. Any such operations were conducted by the FBI and were lawful, the former official said, emphasizing that the CIA focused on Russia’s interference in the election, and the role that Russian officials and intelligence agencies played.

Democrats are likely to bristle at the notion of the attorney general devoting personal time and energy to traveling overseas asking foreign countries to assist in an investigation of U.S. agencies and personnel, particularly since Democrats have accused Barr in the past of acting in Trump’s interests at the expense of the Justice Department’s independence.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused the attorney general of “going rogue” after the Justice Department determined the substance of an explosive whistleblower’s complaint — alleging that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, over Hunter Biden’s past position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company — did not merit a criminal investigation.