Global Courant
Former Special Counsel John Durham will testify twice this week before congressional lawmakers, just weeks after the release of a report finding that the Justice Department and FBI should never have launched the Trump-Russia investigation.
Durham will testify behind closed doors for the first time Tuesday afternoon before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
On Wednesday morning, Durham will sit before the House Judiciary Committee for his first public statements and questioning.
The two sessions will give Republicans and Democrats a chance to question Durham, whose report gave weight to Republican complaints that federal government officials betrayed public trust by rushing to investigate then-President Donald Trump. Durham’s report found that the Justice Department and FBI “failed their mission of strict adherence to the law” by launching the investigation.
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Former special counsel John Durham faces questions from Republicans and Democrats about his findings on the Trump-Russia investigation in two hearings this week. (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Photos/Getty Images)
Durham was chosen in 2019 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Trump-Russia investigation known as “Crossfire Hurricane.” That investigation examined whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
But Durham found that senior FBI personnel “exhibited a serious lack of analytical rigor” regarding the information they received from politically affiliated people, which he said “triggered” then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Durham found that “significant reliance was placed on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump’s political opponents.”
“The department did not adequately investigate or question these materials and the motivations of those who provided them, even when the FBI director and others learned of significant and potentially contradictory information around the same time,” the report said.
DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI MISSION OF ‘STRICT FAITH TO THE LAW’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FAITH TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE
President Barack Obama, left, speaks with FBI Director James Comey. (Getty/File)
For example, Durham found that the FBI “did not respond” to a “clear warning sign” that the FBI was the target of a Hillary Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political ends” ahead of the 2016 election.
Durham was referring to information about a plan created by Hillary Clinton’s July 2016 presidential campaign to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia in an effort to distract from the investigation into her use of a private email server and mishandling classified information.
Durham found that then-CIA director John Brennan “realized the significance” of the intelligence that Clinton was hatching a plan to tie Trump to Russia — so much so that he “quickly” killed then-President Barack Obama and then-Deputy President Joe briefed Biden and other top national security officials.
Durham’s report found that there were reasons to be skeptical of claims that Trump was colluding with Russia, including that this theory emanated from Trump’s political opponents. (Reuters/Mike Segar/File)
But nothing came of that briefing or his subsequent referral of the information to the FBI, which Durham’s final report said was “surprising.”
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“Had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and in turn collected and analyzed data consistent with the information provided by the Clinton Plan intelligence agency, the information received probably would have at least been examined with a more critical eye” , the report said.
Durham said a more sober assessment of the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump efforts could have led to different decisions. (Reuters/Chris Keane)
The anti-Trump Steele dossier, which has been largely discredited, has also been linked to the Clinton campaign. The file contained allegations of alleged coordination between Trump and the Russian government. It was written by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer.
The Clinton campaign and the DNC funded the case through the law firm Perkins Coie, where both Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann were employed at the time.
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Former President Trump has claimed for years that he is the victim of a Democrat-led witch hunt. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
The Justice Department’s inspector general revealed that the unverified anti-Trump dossier helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The FBI’s investigation was turned over to Mueller after Trump was elected. But Mueller’s team, like the FBI, has not investigated allegations related to people associated with Clinton.
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While Democrats are expected to downplay Durham’s report, his investigation led to three people: former Clinton attorney Sussmann in September 2021, Igor Danchenko in November 2021, and Kevin Clinesmith in August 2020.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the Trump investigation after Trump was elected president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster/File)
Sussmann and Danchenko were found innocent. Clinesmith pleaded guilty and served community service.
But Durham’s team could not sue anyone for negligence or failure to act on the “Clinton Plan intelligence.”
“While the evidence we gathered revealed a disturbing disregard for Clinton Plan intelligence and possible confirmation bias in favor of continued investigative scrutiny of Trump and his associates, it did not provide sufficient evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt. evidence that FBI or CIA officials deliberately supported a Clinton campaign plan to mislead or falsely accuse Trump of improper ties to Russia,” the report said.
Michael Susmann (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Following the release of the Durham report, Trump told Fox News Digital that former FBI Director James Comey and Democrats should be held accountable for years of investigating alleged collusion.
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“I, and much more importantly, the American public, have fallen victim to this long-running and insidious charade started by the Democrats — started by Comey,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “There is a high price to be paid for our country to endure this.”
Brooke Singman is a digital political reporter for Fox News. You can reach her at [email protected] or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.
