Attorney General William Barr said Monday that the Justice Department is reviewing information President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others gathered about corruption in Ukraine, including allegations involving Joe Biden and his son.
The review is reportedly being handled by Scott Brady, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
“The DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant,” Barr said during a press briefing. “But as I did say to Senator Graham, we have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine. There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine, a lot of cross currents. And we can’t take anything we received from the Ukraine at face value.”
During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, Graham said Barr told him that the DOJ had “created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it’s verified.”
“Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man,” Graham added. “He’s a crime fighter. He’s loyal to the president. He’s a good lawyer.”
Barr confirmed to reporters on Monday that the information provided by Giuliani was being scrutinized. “We had established an intake process in the field so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners, so that we could assess its provenance and its credibility,” the AG explained. “And that is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide.”
Attorney General Bill Barr confirms to @PierreTABC that the Justice Department is reviewing documents about Joe Biden provided by Rudy Giuliani from Ukraine, but offers a note of caution about the origin of the materials: "We have to be very careful." https://t.co/N6sJ5Uw0qU pic.twitter.com/nDqrldw1a6
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 10, 2020
According to CBS News’ Catherine Herridge, Brady’s review has been “quietly underway for several weeks.”
…Source familiar with process also tells @CBSNews the review goes beyond the Biden-Ukraine matter, and records ARE already under review. On the timeline, CBS News is told the review has been “quietly” under way for “several weeks.” DOJ declined to comment. #Ukraine
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) February 11, 2020
During the premiere episode of Steve Bannon’s radio show and podcast War Room: 2020, Giuliani described how three Ukrainian officials were asked to solicit “information on the Trump Campaign” during a White House meeting with Obama-era National Security Council officials in January 2016.
@RudyGiuliani: Multiple Ukrainian witnesses say they were at NSC in 2016, and two Joe Biden reps asked them to "Dig up Dirt" on the Trump campaign.
— ALX ?? (@alx) February 11, 2020
Now that the DOJ is actively reviewing Giuliani’s information, those former corrupt NSC employees—including possibly so-called whistleblower Eric Ciaramella—and DNC operatives like Alexandra Chalupa, should finally start feeling the heat they so richly deserve.