We learned Thursday that U.S. Attorney John Durham’s Justice Department probe into the origins of the Russia-collusion hoax — a hoax that began as an intelligence investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane — has now become a criminal investigation. As Fox News explains, “The investigation’s new status means Durham can subpoena witnesses, file charges, and impanel fact-finding grand juries.” This is a significant development because it means that Durham has uncovered some form of criminal activity, though exactly what the crime is and the degree and scope of it is not yet known.

This is clearly not the news Democrats, fully invested in their partisan anti-Trump impeachment campaign, wanted to hear. In a joint statement, Democrat House Committee Chairmen Jerry Nadler (NY) and Adam Schiff (CA) responded, “These reports, if true, raise profound new concerns that the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr has lost its independence and become a vehicle for President [Donald] Trump’s political revenge. If the Department of Justice may be used as a tool of political retribution, or to help the President with a political narrative for the next election, the rule of law will suffer.”

Noting the irony of Nadler and Schiff’s statement, Mark Alexander comments, “So now that the Mueller investigation built on a partisan deep-state coup collapsed, any criminal investigation into its origins must be partisan. We are in very dangerous territory here with respect to our Constitution and Rule of Law, given that deep-state operatives and the federal government attempted to overthrow the president, and now those who should be, ostensibly, overseeing those agencies have become their protecters.”

Meanwhile, Inspector General Michael Horowitz has completed his investigation into the FBI’s handling of FISA warrants, specifically regarding former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The investigation was completed weeks ago, but the report has been withheld, creating some speculation as to whether it contains evidence directly connected to Durham’s ongoing and now criminal investigation. Horowitz says his report will be released soon.

Back to Durham’s expanding investigation. It now appears what triggered the probe’s change to a criminal investigation was a recent meeting in Rome, Italy, where Durham and Attorney General William Barr met with “high-level Italian security agents.” Rome is a significant piece in this puzzle due to it being the location where former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos met with Joseph Mifsud, a professor who first told Papadopoulos that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. This may have been where a deep-state plot to tie the Russian-collusion hoax to then-candidate Trump was initiated. All roads lead to Rome?

There’s also news that Durham is planning to interview several FBI and CIA officials, which has prompted some to hire attorneys. Furthermore, there’s word that Durham wants to question both former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, the latter in particular a key coup co-conspirator.

Finally, Horowitz’s soon-to-be released report may shed more light onto the direction of Durham’s criminal investigation. But all we know now is that Durham’s digging has turned up something criminal, and it appears that some folks are beginning to run for cover.

(Edited.)

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Correction: The article previously misstated that Carter Page met with Joseph Mifsud in Rome.