William Barr

‘Unmasking' Probe Pushed by Barr Ends With No Charges

A former CIA director called it "a politically motivated probe"

William Barr, U.S. attorney general, right, speaks during a Medal of Valor and Heroic Commendations ceremony with U.S. Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. The Medal of Valor was given to six Dayton police officers who stopped the Ohio mass shooter last month and five civilians received heroic commendations for having helped others while a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A federal prosecutor appointed by Attorney General William Barr to look into Obama administration officials' "unmasking" of unnamed individuals in intelligence reports concluded his review without finding evidence of wrongdoing, according to a source with direct knowledge of the probe, and without interviewing former CIA Director John Brennan.

Brennan told NBC News he was not interviewed by U.S. Attorney John Bash of the Western District of Texas or anyone related to the unmasking probe.

"I was never interviewed by anyone in the Department of Justice about unmasking, which was a politically motivated probe initiated by William Barr to please Donald Trump," Brennan said.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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