Special counsel John Durham closed his four-year investigation of the FBI’s probe of alleged links between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign with the release Monday of a damning 320-page report on the bureau’s conduct issued nearly four years to the day of his appointment by then-Attorney General William Barr.
Among the stunning findings in the Executive Summary [see the full report here] were the following:
- [B]ased on the evidence gathered in the multiple exhaustive and costly federal investigations of these matters, including the instant investigation, neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. ....
- The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign. ....
- Our investigation determined that the Crossfire Hurricane investigators did not and could not corroborate any of the substantive allegations contained in the Steele reporting. Nor was Steele able to produce corroboration for any of the reported allegations, even after being offered $1 million or more by the FBI for such corroboration. Further, when interviewed by the FBI in January 2017, Danchenko also was unable to corroborate any of the substantive allegations in the Reports. Rather, Danchenko characterized the information he provided to Steele as "rumor and speculation" 30 and the product of casul conversation. ....
- Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities. This information in part triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller's investigation. In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents.
A CNN report widely circulated on social media admitted that the Durham report had completely cleared and "exonerated" former President Donald Trump.If there was any doubt before, there should be none now: if the FBI can't be reformed to prevent it from meddling in presidential elections, it should be disbanded.
— John Daniel Davidson (@johnddavidson) May 15, 2023
Trump wasted no time in telegraphing the significance of the long-delayed Durham report:
WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe! In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don’t want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!
The Durham Report spells out in great detail the Democrat Hoax that was perpetrated upon me and the American people. This is 2020 Presidential Election Fraud, just like “stuffing” the ballot boxes, only more so. This totally illegal act had a huge impact on the Election. With an honest Media, we are looking at the Crime of the Century!
SO PROUD TO HAVE FIRED JAMES COMEY. INSTINCT!
TREASON!!!
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY!
Former Trump intelligence advisor Kash Patel agreed his former boss was innocent and added who was guilty.Durham in his report concluded that the FBI’s behavior was “seriously deficient” and caused “severe reputational harm.”
