Yet Durham found that no senior FBI or CIA officials had committed crimes.
Former intelligence officials disagree on whether Trump would seek to use the spy agencies against domestic political opponents, and if he did, how the intelligence workforce and courts would respond.
Presidents face few legal constraints when it comes to their authority over the intelligence agencies, legal experts and former senior officials said.
Supporters of Trump say dire warnings about the future of the intelligence agencies under a new Trump administration are hysterical and overblown, and that his record at the White House shows that he strengthened the spy agencies.
“And the other is the risk that the intelligence agencies will be directed to do things that are either unlawful or inappropriate.”
Persons:
Donald Trump, Kash Patel, MAGA, Gina Haspel, Patel, Trump, Marc Short, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Dan Coats, ”, José Luis Villegas, ” Trump’s, Joe Biden, Brian Hughes, Justice Department —, Vladimir Putin, “, ” Trump, Putin, Devin Nunes, John Ratcliffe, Robert O’Brien, Sen, Marco Rubio, Robert Mueller's, Hillary Clinton, Bill Barr, John Durham, Durham, Steve Bannon, ” Bannon, Nixon, Chip Somodevilla, Trump’s, Glenn Gerstell, ” “, Robert Litt, ” Litt
Organizations:
Lawmakers, CIA, Justice Department, White House National Security Council, NBC News, “, Texas, FBI, Trump, DOJ, Democratic National Committee, Trump White House, Washington , D.C, National Security Agency, White House, National Intelligence, NBC
Locations:
Minden, Nev, Russian, Moscow, Helsinki, Devin Nunes of California, Russia, Vietnam, Washington ,, ”, Virginia