SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions named John Huber, United States Attorney for District of Utah as lead of the Justice Department effort to investigate concerns raised by Republican lawmakers.
Sessions decided Huber will investigate a cluster of Republican-driven accusations against the FBI and has decided that no second special counsel is needed -- at least for now.
Huber has been looking into allegations that the FBI abused its powers in surveilling a former Trump campaign adviser, and more should have been done to investigate Hillary Clinton's ties to a Russian nuclear energy agency, but his identity had remained a secret.
But Sessions' decision to stop short of formally appointing a special counsel like Robert Mueller, detailed in a lengthy written response to three Republican chairmen on Capitol Hill, will likely anger those in the GOP who have recently ramped up calls to investigate claims of political bias at the nation's top law enforcement agencies.
Sessions said he will rely on Huber's review to determine if a special counsel is needed.
"We understand that the Department is not above criticism and it can never be that the Department conceals errors when they occur," he wrote.
"I am confident that Mr. Huber's review will include a full, complete and objective evaluation of these matters in a manner that is consistent with the law and facts," Sessions wrote. "I receive regular updates from Mr. Huber and upon the conclusion of his review, will receive his recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a special counsel."
It also comes one day after the Justice Department's internal watchdog office confirmed it would review how the FBI obtained a warrant to monitor Trump foreign policy aide Carter Page, as well as the bureau's relationship with Christopher Steele, the author of the Trump dossier.
Huber, who currently serves as the US attorney in Utah, may now find himself thrust into the middle of a fierce partisan struggle -- with Republicans arguing anything short of a special counsel is insufficient because the Justice Department cannot investigate its own people, and Democrats maintaining that any allegations of bias are an unfounded ploy to distract from Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials.
Originally appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015, Huber, along with many other US attorneys, resigned after President Donald Trump took office early last year, but was reappointed by Trump shortly thereafter.
Senator Orrin Hatch released a statement Thursday after Huber's appointment was me public:
Mr. Huber brings decades of experience to his latest, and now very public, assignment. Most importantly, he brings the independent perspective of an accomplished federal prosecutor who has spent his career far removed from the politics of Washington. Attorney General Sessions has picked the right man for the job. I am confident that Mr. Huber will perform these duties with the utmost integrity, and I look forward to learning the results of his work at the appropriate time.”
John Huber- US Attorney, United States Attorney's Office For The District Of Utah
US Attorney United States Attorney's Office for The District of Utah, 6/2015-PRESENT
Executive Assistant US Attorney United States Attorney's Office for The District of Utah, 2012-6/2015
Assistant US Attorney United States Attorney's Office for The District of Utah, 2005-2012
Website: www.justice.gov/usao-ut
Address:
185 South State Street
Suite 300
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
United StatesPhone: 1-801-524-5682
Fax: 1-801-524-6924Web url: www.justice.gov/usao-ut
TO FILE A REPORT:
First: Send your report, as a text report, to at least 10 different Senators from each political party. Use this link to contact them:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact
You must contact as many people from as many political groups as possible and let them all know that many people are aware of the crime.
If you only send your report to one entity it WILL be ignored and covered-up.
Second: Send your report to as many news room editors as possible. You can submit these reports anonymously. Use a few different press release services to avoid censorship and cover-ups.
Third: Post your report on as many blogs and social media outlets as you can.
Fourth: Get a public interest lawyer and sue the bad guys for their crimes. If their crimes affected you, you could win damages. Court cases also get huge media coverage.
Fifth: Go camp out in front of the office of those who are supposed to take action and tell every press outlet and the public that you are camping out there.
NOTES:
- Spell check your work.
- Go through as many of the steps above as you have the time, money and motivation to undertake. If you miss a few steps it is OK. Do as many as you can.
- Keep your statements simple.
- If you can't describe the crime in one paragraph, as the first paragraph of your report, then you are not ready to submit your report.
- Follow-up with phone calls. All of the politicians work for YOU. Make them earn their money.
- Anybody tht does not respond to you within 5 days is probably running a cover-up and stone-walling you.
- FAX and FEDEX your reports to all of the key players.
- Write down the full name of everyone you talked to and the date and time you talked to them.
- Never assume anyone you report to is going to help you. Make them help you. Make sure the bosses of each person know of each person that ignored your report.
- Keep a record of everything. Keep every receipt. Document everything.
- Carbon Copy (CC:) and Blind Carbon Copy (BCC:) multiple parties in your communications so that multiple people know that "the jig is up".
- It is IMPOSSIBLE for the bad guys to keep their emails and documents from being hacked. There is currently no way to stop hacking. Even the CIA, NSA and the White House have been hacked recently. The very hardware they use has many back doors in it. Things can be covered up but they can never be permanently covered up. Expose their crime and their downfall will get done in time.