Trump attorneys welcome Barr move to investigate Russia probe’s origins

Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, personal attorneys to President Trump, praised Attorney General William Barr’s reported decision to assign a federal prosecutor to look into the origins of the Mueller investigation. 

The New York Times reported Monday, citing two sources, that Barr tapped John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to investigate how the 22-month probe started. 

{mosads}Giuliani told NBC News he was not informed of Barr’s decision in advance, but called Durham an “excellent” choice.

“I believe Barr has selected an excellent person, someone who is a career prosecutor who has worked with Republicans and Democrats,” he told the news outlet. “As Barr has done throughout, he made a sensible choice.”

Sekulow told NBC that he found the selection “appropriate.”

“The origins of this investigation have to be examined thoroughly, and the appointment of a U.S. attorney would be the appropriate course of action,” he said. 

Other investigations into special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe are already underway. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and John Huber, the U.S. attorney in Utah, are separately examining aspects of the inquiry.

Mueller completed his investigation into whether Russia interfered in the U.S. investigation in March. His probe found “sweeping” and “systematic” interference but did not establish that there was a conspiracy between the foreign power and the Trump campaign. He did lay out several instances in which Trump may have obstructed justice. 

Trump, meanwhile, has insisted that the probe was a “witch hunt.”