OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden has settled on a nominee to replace John Durham in his former role as U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, even as he continues his criminal investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe that began ahead of the former president’s 2016 election victory.
Biden has chosen Vanessa Avery, “who has served as chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the Connecticut attorney general’s office since 2021 and as an assistant attorney general in that office since 2019,” the Washington Examiner reported, citing a White House press release.
If confirmed, she will become the first black woman to serve as the state’s top federal prosecutor, Fox 61 added.
Avery was one of six nominees to become U.S. attorneys in several state jurisdictions around the nation, the White House statement noted.
“These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials in this field, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice,” the White House press release said.
Since he was named as a special prosecutor by then-Attorney General William Barr, Durham’s name has only popped up in the news on a few occasions, both involving indictments or plea deals involving — thus far — only minor figures in the so-called “Russiagate” probe.
In December, however, investigative reporter John Solomon offered a theory about who Durham will go after next — the FBI.
During an interview on Fox News, Solomon and host Maria Bartiromo spoke about Durham’s investigation and what might be next.
Russian-born analyst Igor Danchenko — a key source for the Steele dossier that alleged ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia — was arrested by federal agents last month as part of the Durham probe.
Solomon explained that he believes Durham is dealing with “two buckets.”
In one “bucket,” there are the last two indictments against officials who were connected to Hillary Clinton and their plan to feed the FBI false information about Trump-Russia conspiracies.
Solomon said the other “bucket” focuses on the FBI and whether agents knowingly mislead the FISA court to obtain warrants to spy on members of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“There’s no doubt there is activity inside the grand jury right now aimed at looking at top-level officials of the FBI, and it’s based on this evidence. We all look at the fact that Denchenko was interviewed by the FBI on January 17, and disowned a lot of the things that were said to him,” he told Bartiromo.
“The FBI never should have started the investigation and I think that’s where John Durham’s investigation is focused right now,” he added.
The Examiner noted more details regarding Durham and Biden’s choice to replace him:
Durham announced his resignation as the U.S. attorney for Connecticut in late February 2021 but remains at the Justice Department as special counsel as he continues to review the origins of the Russia investigation, an endeavor he has led since the spring of 2019. Leonard Boyle began serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut on March 1, 2021, and as the interim U.S. attorney on Dec. 26, 2021.
Avery served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut from 2014 to 2019, and from 2006 to 2014, she was a litigation attorney at McCarter & English, LLP, according to her biography provided by the White House. Avery served as a trial attorney at the Justice Department’s Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 2004 to 2005 and an attorney in the Hartford Trial Group at Cummings & Lockwood LLC from 1999 to 2003. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999 and her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1996.
