18 months in, Durham probe has found ‘no evidence’ to support Obamagate: report

After an 18-month probe into the origins of the Russian investigation President Donald Trump dubbed "Obamagate," top prosecutors are admitting that there is "no evidence" to support the president's conspiracy theory.

A New York Magazine report highlighting the accounts of anonymous sources "familiar with the probe" have confirmed that John Durham, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut who was assigned to the case by U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, has come up short in his report on the so-called Russian investigation.

Despite Trump's ongoing claims, there is no evidence to suggest abuse of power by former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

According to two sources familiar with the probe, there has been no evidence found, after 18 months of investigation, to support Barr's claims that Trump was targeted by politically biased Obama officials to prevent his election. (The probe remains ongoing.) In fact, the sources said, the Durham investigation has so far uncovered no evidence of any wrongdoing by Biden or Barack Obama, or that they were even involved with the Russia investigation. There "was no evidence … not even remotely … indicating Obama or Biden did anything wrong," as one person put it.

Although Barr's opening the investigation aligned with President Donald Trump's wishes, the attorney general has also admitted that they could only pursue criminal charges if they had substantial evidence to do so "beyond a reasonable doubt."

"Under the longstanding standards of the department, criminal charges are appropriate only when we have enough evidence to prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the standard we're applying," Barr said back in May.

At one point, he even name-dropped the former president and vice president as he expressed confidence that Durham's findings would lead to a criminal investigation.

"There is a difference between an abuse of power and a federal crime," Barr continued. "Not every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is a federal crime. As to President Obama and Vice-President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man. Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others."