Attorney General William Barr issued an order Wednesday restricting the launch of any investigations into 2020 presidential candidates without first coming through the Department of Justice.
The new order, announced in a memo obtained by The New York Times, aims to avoid upending the presidential election, as was the case in 2016 when the FBI's inquiries into both the Trump and Clinton campaigns disrupted the election process.
Barr, who has been an outspoken critic of the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign, said in the memo that the Justice Department has a duty to ensure that elections are "free from improper activity or influences."
"In certain cases, the existence of a federal criminal or counterintelligence investigation, if it becomes known to the public, may have unintended effects on our elections," he wrote.
Under the new guidelines, the FBI will be required to receive a written sign-off from Barr before opening any politically sensitive investigations into presidential candidates or their senior staff or advisers.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/ag-barr-requires-investigations-come-through-him
