AG Barr launches probe into Russia investigation origins, stoking Trump's 'spying' conspiracy theory

Attorney General William Barr has reportedly followed through on launching Donald Trump's pet probe into the "oranges" of the FBI's Russia investigation, and unfortunately there's nothing funny about it. Barr assigned Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham to effectively investigate Trump's investigators, marking the third such examination of the Russia probe. Yep, Trump's "spying" conspiracy theory is now the driver of at least three separate investigations into a matter that FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress just last week has no basis in reality. The other two examinations include the one being conducted by the Justice Department's inspector general and the one former Attorney General Jeff Sessions assigned to Utah's U.S. Attorney John Huber.

The Trump MAGA crowd has been eagerly awaiting the results of both probes for months, and now they can add a third to their wish list of investigate-the-investigators fare. Oh, the anticipation.

But wait, there's more! Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham has also said he intends to look into the "oranges," following up on all the dead ends his House GOP counterparts tracked down when they were in control of Congress.

For his part, Durham was nominated to his U.S. attorney post by Trump in 2017 and has conducted investigations for Democratic and Republican administrations alike, including ones for Attorneys General Janet Reno under Clinton, Michael Mukasey under Bush, and Eric Holder under Obama. 

Bottom line: Barr is giving Trump another talking point to buttress his baseless claims and squirting more lighter fluid on the red-hot coals already burning through the minds of Trump’s cult following.