JUST IN: As part of review into origins of investigation into members of Trump campaign, AG Barr asked Pres. Trump on several occasions to initiate introductions between him and leaders of Australia, Italy, among other countries, DOJ official tells ABC.
As a part of his review of the origins of the investigation into members of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, Attorney General William Barr asked President Trump on several occasions to initiate introductions between him and the leaders of Australia and Italy, among other countries, a Department of Justice official with direct knowledge of the calls told ABC News on Monday.
The official told ABC News that Barr's visit to Italy last week was related to that review, but did not further characterize who Barr met with or why he would personally travel to a foreign country as a part of the review. According to public readouts released by the White House, Trump last spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Sep. 5.
The official would not say what other countries Barr has asked for the president's assistance in initiating contact with, but downplayed the requests as common and disputed any notion that Barr would want the president to pressure foreign leaders. Barr has characterized his review as looking into the origins of the counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign in 2016, and in May announced he had tasked U.S. Attorney John Durham of Connecticut to oversee the review.
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