![]() In Durham’s report, he detailed how his team looked into roughly 30 distinct potential crimes by these figures, but they didn’t find enough evidence to bring any charges.Īfter four years, Durham only secured one conviction against a low-level FBI lawyer for doctoring one email related to the surveillance of an ex-Trump campaign aide. The Durham probe fell massively short of right-wing expectations: For years, Trump repeatedly claimed Durham would indict top Democratic politicians and officials from the FBI and DOJ for “treason at the highest level” and for committing the “crime of the century.”ĭurham scrutinized many of the Trump critics that the former president said should be investigated. The special counsel, however, did not recommend any new charges against individuals or “wholesale changes” about how the FBI handles politically charged investigations, despite strongly criticizing the agency’s behavior and highlighting numerous errors and mishaps by the FBI team that handled the sensitive Trump-Russia probe. Durham said the FBI used a more careful standard when weighing concerns about alleged election interference regarding Hillary Clinton’s campaign. In May, Durham’s 300-plus page report was released stating that the FBI haphazardly used “raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence,” to launch the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Trump and Russia. (Trump has called Mueller a “national disgrace.”) (Trump accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials.) He also said special counsel Robert Mueller was a “patriot” whom he had the “highest regard” for. ![]() In addition to rejecting Trump’s insults against Barr, Durham said there was “substantial evidence” that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election. ![]() While Durham has embraced many of Trump’s gripes about the Russia investigation, there were several key legal matters where Durham notably broke from the former president. “In my experience, none of those are correct,” Durham told members of the House Judiciary Committee when asked about Trump’s incendiary attacks against his former attorney general. Durham was able to keep Donald Trump’s talking points in the news, long after Trump left office.”ĭurham denied in his opening statement that politics motivated his investigations.ĭurham breaks with Trump on several issuesĭurham also responded to Trump’s attacks on Barr, whom the former president has called a “gutless pig” and a “RINO.” Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, said. Durham constructed a flimsy story built on shaky inferences and dog whistles to far-right conspiracy theorists,” Rep. The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee also slammed Durham, accusing the Trump-era prosecutor of weaponizing his “flimsy” probe to harass Trump’s opponents and generate headlines for “far-right conspiracy theorists.” There’s no good dealing with him because you will end up on the bottom of a pyre.” ![]() Barr … your reputation will be damaged, as everybody’s reputation who gets involved with Donald Trump is damaged, he’s damaged goods. Steve Cohen of Tennessee sharply criticized Durham, saying, “You got nothing,” in regards to the special counsel’s report. “And I’m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir.”ĭemocratic Rep. “My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect, and my family, and my Lord,” Durham said responding to a House Democrat who accused him of running a biased investigation. That stands in contrast with what Trump has promised to do if he wins back the White House next year: He said he’ll appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” Joe Biden and his family, directing an investigation against an opponent in a way that shatters longstanding norms, in place since the Watergate era, that have kept the White House away from specific criminal investigations.ĭemocrats were particularly critical of Durham’s handling of his own investigation, a concern he dismissed. He testified that Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, didn’t block any of his moves, didn’t reach out to discuss the probe, and didn’t meddle with the investigation. Special counsel John Durham defended himself Wednesday amid sharp criticism from Democrats, and also rejected former President Donald Trump’s attacks on former Attorney General Bill Barr, who appointed Durham to conduct his investigation into the FBI’s Russia probe.ĭurham is testifying publicly before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the details of his report that concluded that the FBI should have only launched a preliminary, but not full, investigation into connections between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.ĭespite repeated claims from Trump and Republicans that the Biden administration has “weaponized” the Justice Department, Durham said there wasn’t any political interference with his work. ![]()
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