Less than one-third of Americans are aware of a special investigation into the origins of the special counsel inquiry into accusations former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign conspired with Russia, but of those who do know, 83% said the Obama administration knew or tried to influence it.
The findings were revealed in a TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics (TIPP) poll on Tuesday, which also discovered that of those aware of the so-called Durham probe, 57% think its is very likely the Obama administration was aware and tried to affect it.
John Durham was appointed in October by then-Attorney General William Barr as a special counsel to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
The poll queried 484 adults between March 31 and April 3 about the investigation by former U.S. District Attorney for Connecticut Durham, who resigned in February from the post to continue his investigation into the intelligence agency-Department of Justice-FBI probe probe known as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
Crossfire Hurricane was established in the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign as a counterintelligence operation to investigate alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian government operatives. It led to the special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller, who found no evidence of a conspiracy or collusion.
Republicans have characterized the early stages of the investigation as a spying operation on the Trump campaign, and in April 2019, then Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham to investigate the claims.
The Durham investigation already has produced one guilty plea of a Department of Justice lawyer who admitted to intentionally falsifying a document used to obtain a surveillance warrant in Crossfire Hurricane.
The TIPP poll discovered that of those aware of Durham’s investigation, 73% believe President Joe Biden – who reportedly attended a January 2017 meeting with intelligence officials, President Barack Obama and other key administration officials about the matter – should be questioned by Durham.
That included 86% of self-identified conservatives, 56% of moderates and 62% of liberals.
It also found that 94% of conservatives believe the Obama White House either very or somewhat likely tried to influence Crossfire Hurricane, 71% of moderates and even 68% of liberals.
Awareness of the Durham investigation, probably due to its considerably less new media coverage, drew even less than half of conservatives, 45%, 26% of moderates and 30% of liberals.
Source: Newmax
