Trump pressed Australia's prime minister to help AG Barr investigate the origins of the Russia probe

White House

• President Donald Trump asked Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to work with US Attorney General William Barr in investigating the origins of the FBI's Russia probe, The New York Times reported Monday.
• The request came just weeks after Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work with Barr on the matter.
• He also asked Zelensky to work with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
• Trump's request to Morrison is emblematic of his long-held view that the Justice Department is a political tool he can wield against his perceived enemies.
• The Times reported that the White House restricted access to the transcript of Trump's conversation with Morrison to a small group of the president's aides.
• Australia played a unique role in the Russia probe.
• The FBI launched the investigation after a top Australian diplomat reported to US officials that the Trump campaign's foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos boasted to him that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands" of emails.
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President Donald Trump pressed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to work with US Attorney General William Barr in an effort to discredit the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, The New York Times reported on Monday.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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