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Barr says review of Russia investigation won’t result in criminal probes of Obama, Biden

Attorney General William Barr threw cold water on the budding Obamagate conspiracy in a Monday press conference, saying he doesn’t expect a review underway of the 2016 Russia probe into presidential election interference to result in criminal investigations of former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democrat candidate who will run against President Trump in November.

“Whatever their level of involvement based on the level of information I have today, I don't expect [U.S. Attorney John] Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man,” Barr said.

Barr, who appointed Durham to look into the origins of the Russia probe and who has faced criticism about his own seeming intervention in cases involving the president’s close allies like former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, condemned politicizing investigations conducted by the Justice Department. “As long as I'm attorney general, the criminal justice system will not be used for partisan political ends,” he said. “This is especially true for the upcoming elections in November.”

Trump has stepped up criticism of the FBI, members of the Obama administration and the former president, amid the Justice Department’s move to drop its case against Flynn. The president has indicated concerns over the way investigators and prosecutors handled the case and the House Intelligence Committee released closed door testimonies from its own probe.

“If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama,” the president tweeted last week. “He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!”

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