william barr undermine the mueller investigation. "the new york times" reports in making the request, one of many at mr. barr's behest, mr. trump was in effect asking the australian government to investigate itself. fbi counterintelligence investigators began examining any trump ties to russia's 2016 election interference after australian officials told the bureau that russian intermediaries made overtures to trump advisers about releasing political damaging information about hillary clinton. australia's top diplomat in britain had met in london in may 2016 with papadopoulos, who revealed the russian offer of dirt on mrs. clinton. the "new york times" sources for this story are, quote, two american officials. so two american officials are blowing the whistle on william barr and donald trump. the whistle-blowers are everywhere now.