The New York Times reports:

President Trump tried somewhat clumsily last year to revoke the security clearance of the former C.I.A. director who played a role in opening the Russia investigation. He then wanted to release classified documents to prove he was the target of a “witch hunt.”

Both attempts petered out, hampered by aides who slow-rolled the president and Justice Department officials who fought Mr. Trump, warning he was jeopardizing national security.

But this week, Attorney General William P. Barr engineered a new approach. At Mr. Barr’s urging, Mr. Trump granted him new authorities to examine the start of the Russia investigation, demonstrating a new level of sophistication for an old line of attack. Unlike Mr. Trump’s hollow threats and name-calling, Mr. Barr’s examination of how the intelligence community investigated the Trump campaign could offer a more effective blueprint for the president to take aim at his perceived political enemies.

“The president is not known for the precision, judiciousness or thoughtfulness of his attacks, but he is in attack mode here and we seem to be opening a new front,” said David Kris, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division during the Obama administration.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a lawyer for Mr. Trump did not respond to messages seeking comment. Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday that he hoped the attorney general “looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country.”

Mr. Trump took the highly unusual step on Thursday of granting Mr. Barr the power to declassify the most closely guarded secrets of the C.I.A. and the country’s 15 other intelligence agencies. Mr. Barr had asked for the authority to facilitate his review of the intelligence agencies’ involvement in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

The president delegated it hours after declaring that several officials overseeing the investigation had committed treason, a capital offense. [Continue reading…]