Lawmakers Call for Inquiry Into Durhams Review of Russia Investigation

The Democrats asked the Justice Departments inspector general to scrutinize whether John H. Durham and William P. Barr violated any laws, D.O.J. rules or practices, or canons of legal ethics.

WASHINGTON Two House Democrats urged the Justice Departments independent inspector general on Wednesday to open an investigation into the special counsel review of the Russia inquiry, citing alarming disclosures in a recent New York Times article.

The article, which showed how the special counsels review became roiled by disputes over prosecutorial ethics, reveals possible prosecutorial misconduct, abuse of power, ethical transgressions and a potential cover-up of an allegation of a financial crime committed by the former president, the lawmakers wrote. In a four-page letter to the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, they asked that he scrutinize whether the special counsel, John H. Durham, or the attorney general who appointed him, William P. Barr, violated any laws, D.O.J. rules or practices, or canons of legal ethics.