The testimony and report of Special Counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a> show clearly that there was “political coordination” at the FBI in the investigation into former President Donald Trump over alleged collusion, according to Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro.
Shapiro made the comments on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1752-the-schiff-hits-the-fan-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his Thursday show</a> while discussing Durham&#8217;s testimony on Wednesday before Congress. Durham conducted a nearly four-year investigation that painted a damning picture of an FBI that disregarded its mission and central principles in order to pursue a partisan investigation into Trump.
“That report, if you&#8217;ll recall, was just an absolute disaster for Democrats. I called it maybe the worst political scandal in American history. Nobody actually took it seriously in the press, because to do so would have been devastating for the Obama administration. In particular, as I wrote at the time, Crossfire Hurricane was initiated based on sheer conjecture,” Shapiro said. 
Shapiro explained that the investigation was based on shoddy evidence that was in part begun by agents who had voiced political opposition to Trump. 
“The FBI basically greenlit the investigation within days of receiving that flimsy information. Peter Strzok, who&#8217;s an ardent Trump hater, he helped initiate that investigation. The investigation from notes was launched well before any dialogue with Russia, with Australia, or the intelligence community prior to any critical analysis of the information itself,” Shapiro said.
Durham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-set-to-testify-in-congress-over-damning-report-on-fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found in his report</a> that the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump’s campaign “based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence” and took allegations about Trump far more seriously than allegations about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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During his testimony, Durham said that investigators at the FBI suffered from confirmation bias, and ignored evidence that didn&#8217;t fit the narrative that Trump was colluding with Russia.
&#8220;Well, all of this ticked off the Democrats to no end, because what he is suggesting here is systemic failure. And it&#8217;s not just a question of a few bad apples,” Shapiro said. 
Durham said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-says-fbi-agents-apologized-to-him-for-trump-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during his Wednesday testimony</a> that some current and former agents at the FBI had apologized to him for the investigation. 
“Let me give you some real-life views,” Durham said. “I have had any number of FBI agents who I’ve worked with over the years — some of them are retired, some of them are still in place — who have come to me and apologized for the manner in which that investigation was undertaken.”

House Select Intelligence Committee Receives Testimony From Former Special Counsel John Durham In Closed Hearing

Durham Testimony Suggests ‘Political Coordination’ Against Trump At FBI, Ben Shapiro Says

Crossfire Hurricane

Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton

John Durham

Russiagate

Members of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a>&#8216;s Crossfire Hurricane team were not made aware of intelligence about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hillary-clinton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hillary Clinton</a>&#8216;s 2016 presidential campaign allegedly cooking up a plan to tie her rival <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> to Russia, according to Special Counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a>.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH) got Durham to establish how the intelligence was important enough to be discussed by CIA Director John Brennan during a White House briefing with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden (who is now president of the United States), Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director James Comey in the summer of 2016.
That information came from a Russian intelligence report and was soon placed into a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CIA</a> referral memo addressed to Comey and Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, who was involved in opening the Crossfire Hurricane inquiry. Yet, as told by Durham, Crossfire Hurricane agents who had recently started investigating alleged links between Trump&#8217;s campaign and Russia never got the memo.
Durham said &#8220;no&#8221; when asked whether Comey shared the information with FBI agents on the case. He was then prompted to recount how a supervisory special agent who had been involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation became distraught when Durham&#8217;s team shared the intelligence with him during an interview.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: Full exchange between Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jim_Jordan</a> and Special Counsel John Durham.
The hearing continues LIVE on C-SPAN3 and online here: <a href="https://t.co/To3Po9IsyS">https://t.co/To3Po9IsyS</a> <a href="https://t.co/plHwPbxONk">pic.twitter.com/plHwPbxONk</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1671523231021551616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We interviewed the first supervisor on the Crossfire investigation, the operational person,&#8221; Durham said. &#8220;We showed him the intelligence information. He indicated he had never seen it before. He immediately became emotional, and got up and left the room with his lawyer, spent some time in the hallway, and came back.&#8221;
He added later: &#8220;The information was kept from him.&#8221;
Durham&#8217;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-report-makes-sobering-findings-about-fbis-handling-of-trump-russia-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> last month, indicated the &#8220;Clinton Plan intelligence&#8221; could have been helpful to agents involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. &#8220;Most&#8221; of the individuals shown parts of the information by Durham&#8217;s team advised they had never seen it before, the special counsel&#8217;s report said.
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The report specifically points to British ex-spy Christopher Steele&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now-discredited</a> anti-Trump dossier, stemming from research funded by Clinton&#8217;s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, that the FBI was <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-finds-17-significant-errors-or-omissions-in-carter-page-fisa-applications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> to have improperly used to secure FISA surveillance warrants against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It also references the unfounded secret <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backchannel</a> between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank that was <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/793250312119263233" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoted</a> by Clinton and her team in the run-up to the 2016 election.
&#8220;Whether or not the Clinton Plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false, it should have prompted FBI personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports and the Alfa Bank allegations,&#8221; Durham&#8217;s report said.
&#8220;The FBI also should have disseminated the Clinton Plan intelligence more widely among those responsible for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation so that they could effectively incorporate it into their analysis and decision-making, and their representations to the OI attorneys and, ultimately, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court],&#8221; Durham&#8217;s report said.

John Durham Affirms Crossfire Hurricane Investigators Kept In Dark About Alleged Clinton Plan

2016 Election

James Comey

Politics

Russia

Scandals

U.S.

In a heated exchange on Wednesday, Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Gaetz</a> (R-FL) tore into Special Counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a>, going as far as to suggest the prosecutor was engaging in a &#8220;cover-up&#8221; of the Russia investigation.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-fires-back-at-dem-questioning-his-reputation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Durham was appearing</a> before the House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-says-fbi-agents-apologized-to-him-for-trump-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to testify</a> about his report, which heavily criticized the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a>&#8216;s probe into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-appears-to-squeeze-schiff-zinger-into-trump-russia-probe-testimony" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alleged links</a> between Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
When Gaetz was called to question the witness, the congressman focused on areas of great interest to Republicans that Durham&#8217;s years-long inquiry apparently failed to resolve.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMattGaetz</a> accuses former Special Counsel John Durham as being part of a &quot;cover-up&quot; regarding the FBI&#39;s investigation. Mr. Durham responded, calling the accusation &quot;offensive.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/N6f5UiYO0P">pic.twitter.com/N6f5UiYO0P</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1671600183409520640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Gaetz inquired about Joseph Mifsud, a mysterious professor whose <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/18/us/politics/mueller-report-document.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alleged talk of Russia having &#8220;dirt&#8221;</a> on Trump&#8217;s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton to Trump campaign adviser George Papadopolous kicked off a series of events that led to the FBI&#8217;s investigation, codenamed Crossfire Hurricane. Special counsel Robert Mueller said Mifsud was a London-based professor with &#8220;connections to Russia,&#8221; but some GOP investigators <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/devin-nunes-clinton-dirt-tipster-joseph-mifsud-has-ties-to-state-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspect him of being tied to Western intelligence</a>.
Durham said his team struggled to track down Mifsud for an interview. Though Durham said he obtained some phones, he noted Mifsud&#8217;s lawyer in Europe claimed to not know where his client was located. &#8220;We pursued the facts as best we could with the tools that we had,&#8221; Durham said.
Gaetz also pressed Durham on phones used by members of Mueller&#8217;s team <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/top-mueller-prosecutor-andrew-weissmann-denies-mishandling-phone-evidence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being wiped</a>. Durham said he did not investigate that issue because it was outside his scope, an assertion that Gaetz argued was untrue. Durham was similarly tight-lipped about a reported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/politics/fbi-government-investigator-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government investigator</a> sent by the FBI to make contact with Papadopolous.
&#8220;We get after it was put in motion, the FBI did a bunch of wrong and corrupt things. Totally understand. We&#8217;re trying to deal with that. But when you are part of the cover-up, Mr. Durham, then it makes our job harder,&#8221; Gaetz said.
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&#8220;I mean if that&#8217;s your thought, there&#8217;s no way of dissuading from that,&#8221; Durham replied. &#8220;I can tell you that it&#8217;s offensive and the people who worked on this investigation spent their lives trying to protect the people in this country and pursued within the law to pursue what it is we were authorized to do.&#8221;
The clash continued as Gaetz faulted Durham for not being more zealous in charging people. He specifically name-dropped former FBI Deputy Director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andrew-mccabe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andrew McCabe</a>, who played a central role in the Russia investigation.
Gaetz also said Kevin Clinesmith, the former FBI lawyer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-ex-fbi-lawyer-to-plead-guilty-in-durham-criminal-investigation-for-allegedly-falsifying-evidence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who pleaded guilty</a> to falsifying a document used to justify FISA surveillance on onetime Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page, is already back to practicing law in Washington, D.C.
&#8220;The punishment was insufficient,&#8221; Gaetz said.
After making references to the Washington Generals, <a href="https://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/world-tour/roster/washington-generals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the exhibition basketball team</a> that Gaetz said &#8220;basically gets paid to show up and lose&#8221; to the Harlem Globetrotters, the congressman criticized Durham for the &#8220;omissions&#8221; in his report and the overall &#8220;lack of work&#8221; by the special counsel.
&#8220;And for the people, like the chairman [Jim Jordan], who put trust in you, I think you let them down,&#8221; Gaetz said. &#8220;I think you let the country down. And you are one of the barriers to the true accountability that we need.&#8221;

John Durham hearing

‘Part Of The Cover-Up’: Gaetz Puts Durham On Blast During Hearing

'Part Of The Cover-Up': Gaetz Puts Durham On Blast During Hearing

Congress

Matt Gaetz

Special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a> appeared to squeeze a zinger about Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/adam-schiff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Schiff</a> (D-CA) into his testimony as they sparred over the Russia investigation on Wednesday.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Schiff pressed Durham on a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump&#8217;s son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer, as discussed in special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/robert-mueller" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Mueller</a>&#8216;s report.
Schiff asked Durham if he was &#8220;aware&#8221; that Mueller and congressional investigations revealed the meeting was predicated on a Russian official offering the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee in the 2016 presidential election.
Durham delivered a retort in which he said &#8220;People get phone calls all the time from individuals who claim to have information like that.&#8221;
Schiff then asked if Durham was saying the son of a presidential candidate &#8220;gets calls all the time from a foreign government offering dirt&#8221; on their election rival.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think this is unique in your experience,&#8221; Durham quipped, a comment that elicited some chuckles in the room.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Schiff: The son of a presidential candidate gets calls all the time from a foreign government offering dirt on their opponent, is that what you are saying? <a href="https://t.co/1R7nH8xfmC">pic.twitter.com/1R7nH8xfmC</a>
&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1671529353509830663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Durham appeared to be referencing how Schiff once spoke to Russian prank callers posing as a Ukrainian politician in 2017. At the time, Schiff was the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, which was conducting its own inquiry into Russian election interference.
Schiff can be heard in audio <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-rep-digs-up-audio-of-schiff-saying-he-would-accept-dirt-on-trump-from-ukrainian-politician-in-prank-call" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> he would accept their alleged evidence of &#8220;compromising material&#8221; on Trump, including nude photos, and get in touch with the FBI to look into the claims.
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When word of the call got out, a spokesperson for Schiff claimed the congressman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-russian-comedians-trick-adam-schiff-thinking-ryan-saavedra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had suspected something was amiss</a>. “Before agreeing to take the call, and immediately following it, the committee informed appropriate law-enforcement and security personnel of the conversation, and of our belief that it was probably bogus,&#8221; <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/putins-game/546548/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the spokesperson told The Atlantic</a>.
Durham sat before the committee on Wednesday to testify about his report criticizing the FBI for how it opened and conducted its inquiry into alleged links between Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia. That FBI investigation was later folded into Mueller&#8217;s special counsel probe after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in 2017.
Under continued questioning by Schiff, Durham said he was not trying to &#8220;diminish&#8221; the Trump Tower meeting. Durham said the &#8220;more complete story is that they met and it was a ruse and they didn&#8217;t talk about Mrs. Clinton.&#8221;
Durham characterized the meeting as &#8220;ill-advised&#8221; but not illegal. Schiff shot back, saying, &#8220;It is illegal to conspire to get incriminating opposition research from a hostile government that is of financial value to a campaign.&#8221;
Mueller, whose special counsel investigation ended in 2019, reported that his team did not find sufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy between Trump&#8217;s campaign and Russia.
Mueller <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/mueller-report-no-evidence-trump-knew-about-trump-tower-meeting-n995816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declined to charge Trump Jr.</a> in connection to the Trump Tower meeting. During that meeting, according to Mueller&#8217;s report, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and her associates <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/18/us/politics/mueller-report-document.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not provide damaging information on Clinton</a>, instead making the conversation about a Russian adoption issue.

Adam Schiff

Durham Appears To Squeeze Schiff Zinger Into Trump-Russia Probe Testimony

Durham Squeezes Schiff Zinger Into Trump-Russia Probe Testimony

Special Counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a> said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> agents approached him to apologize for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Durham spoke about his report that criticized the FBI over its probe into alleged links between Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
&#8220;Our findings were sobering. I can tell you, having spent 40 years-plus as a federal prosecutor, they were particularly sobering to me,&#8221; Durham said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
House Judiciary Committee John Durham Testimony
.@RepMikeJohnson: &quot;You said that your findings and conclusions are sobering&#8230;Why?&quot;
DURHAM: &quot;I have had any number of FBI agents&#8230;who have come to me and apologized for the manner in which that investigation [Crossfire Hurricane]… <a href="https://t.co/3kdf4RE8II">pic.twitter.com/3kdf4RE8II</a>
&mdash; Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1671515590341586944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) later asked Durham to explain why his findings were sobering.
&#8220;Let me give you some real-life views,&#8221; Durham said. &#8220;I have had any number of FBI agents who I&#8217;ve worked with over the years — some of them are retired, some of them are still in place — who have come to me and apologized for the manner in which that investigation was undertaken.&#8221;
Durham said he believes the majority of the FBI&#8217;s personnel are &#8220;decent human beings&#8221; who swear under their oaths to abide by the law.
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John Durham: 
&quot;Our findings were sobering. Anybody who actually reads the report would find that the problems identified in the report are not susceptible to overnight fixes. What is required is accountability!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/h2Xybjri1w">pic.twitter.com/h2Xybjri1w</a>
&mdash; Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1671518451855130626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;There were investigative activities undertaken or not undertaken here which raise real concerns about whether or not the law was followed, the policies in place at the FBI were followed,&#8221; Durham said.
After a years-long investigation, Durham concluded his probe, and the Department of Justice released his <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> last month. It accused the FBI of &#8220;confirmation bias&#8221; and being too quick to open a full-fledged investigation into the Russia matter.
Durham secured one guilty plea over the course of his investigation: that of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who was accused of falsifying a document in efforts to renew the authority to conduct FISA surveillance on onetime Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith was spared prison time and faced a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fbi-lawyer-clinesmith-one-year-bar-suspension-guilty-plea-fisa-deception" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-year bar suspension</a>.
In a statement responding to Durham&#8217;s report, the FBI said it “already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time.” The bureau also said Durham&#8217;s report &#8220;reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.&#8221;
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Durham said in his <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/durham-testimony.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statement</a> that he is &#8220;encouraged&#8221; by some reforms the FBI has implemented but stressed that &#8220;the problems identified in the report are not susceptible to overnight fixes.&#8221;
The special counsel added: &#8220;As we said in the report, they cannot be addressed solely with enhanced training or additional policy requirements. Rather, what is required is accountability — both in terms of the standards to which our law enforcement personnel hold themselves and in the consequences they face for violations of law or policy.&#8221;

John Durham Says FBI Agents Apologized To Him For Trump Probe

Carter Page

General

Special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a> received a round of applause with his response to a House Democrat who scolded him during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) warned Durham that his association with former President Donald Trump and former Attorney General William Barr threatened to damage his &#8220;good&#8221; image. &#8220;You will end up on the bottom of a pyre,&#8221; Cohen said.
Given a chance to offer a reply, Durham explained why he was not worried about it.
&#8220;My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord, and I&#8217;m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir,&#8221; Durham said.
&#8220;Well said, God bless you,&#8221; Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said, after which a round of applause could be heard. Another lawmaker was then called upon to address the witness.
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Special Counsel John Durham gives a PERFECT response to an angry tirade by Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen:
&quot;My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord, and I&#39;m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Cp7XBBQuJp">pic.twitter.com/Cp7XBBQuJp</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1671523842395897856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Durham appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to talk about his report criticizing the FBI for how it conducted its investigation into alleged links between Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Leading up to the back-and-forth about Durham&#8217;s reputation, Cohen and Durham talked about how Trump appointed Durham to be U.S. attorney in Connecticut and Barr later appointed Durham to be special counsel.
Cohen pressed Durham on whether he believes Trump is a good judge of character. The congressman got into how Barr has fallen out of favor with the former president. Cohen listed examples of how Trump has denigrated Barr, calling him a &#8220;gutless pig,&#8221; a &#8220;coward,&#8221; and a &#8220;RINO&#8221; — which is a derogatory term that stands for &#8220;Republican in name only.&#8221;
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Though Durham refused to opine on Trump&#8217;s character, he did comment on Trump&#8217;s insults against Barr. &#8220;In my experience, none of those are correct,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;So Mr. Trump isn&#8217;t that good of an expert on character and judging people?&#8221; Cohen asked. After Durham shrugged and declined to respond, Cohen surmised that Durham&#8217;s opinion is that Trump is a bad judge of character based on his defense of Barr.
&#8220;That&#8217;s outside the scope of my report,&#8221; Durham quipped with a smile. More laughter followed.

John Durham Fires Back At Dem Questioning His Reputation

Jim Jordan

Steve Cohen

William Barr

Seasoned prosecutor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a>&#8216;s restrained approach to investigating how top FBI brass may have cozied up to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hillary-clinton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hillary Clinton</a>&#8216;s 2016 campaign vexed members of his special counsel team, journalist Seymour Hersh reported on Thursday.
Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winner who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-cant-be-that-stupid-journalist-slams-nyt-for-claiming-u-s-officials-suggested-pro-ukraine-group-attacked-nord-steam-pipelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced controvers</a>y by alleging that the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipeline, <a href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/russiagates-missing-pieces" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in his latest Substack article</a> how the &#8220;real story&#8221; of Russiagate involves FBI officials who &#8220;chose to look the other way&#8221; when the Clinton team cooked up ways to link then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia that culminated in British ex-spy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-offered-to-pay-steele-1m-for-anti-trump-evidence-paid-possible-russian-spy-despite-knowing-his-info-was-bad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christopher Steele&#8217;s now-discredited dossier</a> and unfounded allegations of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an Alfa Bank backchannel</a>.
&#8220;It became evident to some members of Durham’s staff that the real story was not about whether or not Trump had pee parties in a Moscow hotel room — one of the headline-producing allegations in the Steele Dossier that consumed the Washington press corps in the aftermath of Trump’s victory in the 2016 election,&#8221; Hersh wrote. &#8220;The issue was whether the Clinton campaign, in its constant leaking of false accusations and false data, had crossed a line.&#8221;
&#8220;I was told that there was tension and frustration over Durham’s initial lack of interest, or reluctance, to go beyond his investigative mandate and look closely at the possibility that some senior FBI officials had openly joined ranks with the Clinton campaign, with its drumbeat of spurious allegations, because, in some cases, of a shared belief in the importance of a Clinton victory in the fall election,&#8221; Hersh said. &#8220;Another factor, I was told, was the possibility of promotions — even to high-level Justice Department offices — in a potential Clinton administration.&#8221;
There has already been some reporting on consternation within the Durham team&#8217;s ranks. Durham&#8217;s No. 2 prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, resigned in 2020 in what <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/us/politics/durham-trump-russia-barr.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times described</a> as a &#8220;culmination of a series of disputes between them over prosecutorial ethics.&#8221; The newspaper also reported that two other prosecutors objected to indicting former Clinton campaign Michael Sussmann, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-jury-clears-former-clinton-attorney-michael-sussmann-of-lying-to-fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquitted last year</a> by a D.C. jury on a charge of lying to the FBI.
The full extent of what Durham ultimately discovered about &#8220;Clinton Plan intelligence&#8221; during his years-long inquiry remains shrouded, but the Department of Justice last month <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released his 306-page report</a>. It made headlines for how it heavily criticized the FBI&#8217;s investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
&#8220;Durham, to his credit, did follow the leads that came to his office, but he left them in secrecy—perhaps in the Classified Appendix or perhaps completely off the record,&#8221; Hersh wrote. &#8220;He was seen by some as being mandated only to investigate FBI management shortcomings and believed the public needed a full accounting of the FBI bungling.&#8221;
&#8220;It was not clear whether Durham, had he decided to expand the parameters of his inquiry to include the implications of the intelligence about the Clinton campaign, would have been allowed to do so,&#8221; Hersh said. &#8220;As Durham himself writes, &#8216;any attempted prosecution premised on the Clinton Plan intelligence would face what in all likelihood would be insurmountable classification issues given the highly sensitive nature of the information itself.'&#8221;
Durham is scheduled to testify about his investigation before two committees next month. The special counsel is set to speak with the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session on June 20 and appear before the House Judiciary Committee in a public setting on June 21, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/john-durham-testify-house-judiciary-committee-june" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Washington Examiner</a>.

Legendary Reporter Claims Durham’s Reluctance To Probe Clinton-FBI Alliance Irked Team

Hersh Reports Durham Irked Team With Reluctance To Investigate Clinton-FBI Alliance

Special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a> is set to testify on Capitol Hill next month after releasing his report excoriating the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> over its handling of investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
Durham was tasked with investigating Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s 2016 investigation into Trump-Russia collusion, and other related activities, in May of 2019. Former Attorney General Bill Barr gave Durham special counsel status in December of 2020 to protect the investigation as the White House changed hands from former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> to President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>.
Durham ended his roughly four-year investigation last week after the Department of Justice released a 306-page <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> containing Durham’s findings. The report painted a damning picture of an FBI that disregarded its mission and central principles in order to pursue a partisan investigation into Trump.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) immediately sought to have Durham testify about his investigation. Committee spokesman Russel Dye said Friday that the hearing would take place on June 21, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/26/durham-to-testify-next-month-on-fbi-bias-in-trump-russia-probe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>.
Durham found that the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump’s campaign “based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence” and took allegations about Trump far more seriously than allegations about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“[T]he answer is not the creation of new rules but a renewed fidelity to the old,” Durham wrote. “The promulgation of additional rules and regulations to be learned in yet more training sessions would likely prove to be a fruitless exercise if the FBI’s guiding principles of ‘Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity’ are not engrained in the hearts and minds of those sworn to meet the FBI&#8217; s mission of ‘Protect[ing] the American People and Uphold[ing] the Constitution of the United States.’”
Despite Durham’s harsh review of the FBI’s handling of its Trump investigation and other intelligence work, he did not recommend bringing any more charges over the matter.
Jordan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nothing-is-off-the-table-jim-jordan-outlines-response-to-durham-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sunday that his committee would look through the report and pick up on leads that could lead to a fuller picture of the inner workings of the FBI.
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“Are there people that were highlighted in the Durham investigation and the Durham report that we need to talk to on the Judiciary Committee? We’re going to give that a good, hard look,” Jordan said on Fox News.
“Nothing is off the table,” he added, “because it is critical the American people understand how their government — their agencies — have been turned on them, the taxpayer, and we get all the facts out there.”

John Durham Set To Testify In Congress Over Damning Report On FBI

Washington D.C.

A senior <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> official stunned GOP members of Congress on Tuesday upon testifying that she has not read or even been briefed on special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a>&#8216;s report.
Jill Murphy, the FBI&#8217;s deputy assistant director of counterintelligence, said during a hearing that she has not &#8220;had time&#8221; to read the report that was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-john-durhams-years-long-investigation-into-trump-russia-collusion-investigators-is-over" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released early last week</a>, though she intends to get to it.
The report, which came at the conclusion of a years-long inquiry, heavily criticized the FBI probe into alleged links between <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, <a href="https://twitter.com/RepPfluger/status/1661125710981857281" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said he was &#8220;speechless&#8221;</a> upon hearing that Murphy had not read the report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The FBI&#39;s Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence tells <a href="https://twitter.com/HomelandGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HomelandGOP</a>: 
&quot;I have not read the Durham report.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/3EOlLHVpPG">pic.twitter.com/3EOlLHVpPG</a>
&mdash; Rep. August Pfluger (@RepPfluger) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepPfluger/status/1661125710981857281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“I would highly recommend reading that because we spent four years discussing that — there was uncorroborated evidence. The Durham report specifically outlines the outcome of that. It’s very disappointing to hear this,&#8221; he said.
Although the hearing was focused on <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/tomorrow-at-2pm-pfluger-to-hold-subcommittee-hearing-on-combating-ccp-aggression-with-dhs-fbi-witnesses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Communist Party &#8220;aggression,&#8221;</a> other members of the subcommittee took the opportunity to talk about Durham&#8217;s report.
Under <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1661102253778804743?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">questioning by Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC)</a>, Murphy conceded that she had not even been briefed on Durham&#8217;s report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepDanBishop?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepDanBishop</a>: &quot;The Durham Report &quot;has been out since the 12th of this month&#8230;Mr. Goldman&#39;s obviously been briefed on it&#8230;! Why is that not a matter of such import that you would want urgently to understand what the special counsel concluded&#8230;?
FBI Assistant Director of… <a href="https://t.co/nNcEpuEnlt">pic.twitter.com/nNcEpuEnlt</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1661102253778804743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bishop said the report was &#8220;devastating&#8221; to the FBI and should be of &#8220;grave concern&#8221; to Murphy in particular because of her role.
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&#8220;Sir, if you&#8217;d like a brief on the Durham report from the Counterintelligence Division, I&#8217;m happy to take that back,&#8221; Murphy said upon being pressed about why she has not urgently dug into the special counsel&#8217;s findings.
“Wow, that sounds almost contemptuous,” Bishop shot back, adding later: &#8220;I’m just without words, that the FBI is unconcerned.&#8221;
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who offered a <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1661099791051268108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">negative critique</a> of the Durham inquiry, took aim at his Republican colleagues for being heavily critical of the FBI and even talking about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-gaetz-announces-resolution-dedicated-to-stopping-fbi-hq-funds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defunding the agency</a>.
&#8220;The problem they have is that the FBI is doing its job in investigating their dear leader Donald Trump,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1661100628725096449" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Goldman said</a>. &#8220;And if you can undermine the investigator, if you can undermine independent journalists doing investigative reporting, then you can undermine our entire system of democracy.&#8221;

Senior FBI Counterintel Official Stuns Lawmakers With Admission On Durham Report

The most interesting candidate in the 2024 election has to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/robert-f-kennedy-jr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democratic hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr</a>. – if not for his career path and family history, then for his willingness to buck the D.C. establishment narrative and attack The Uniparty.
In his latest campaign statement regarding the FBI&#8217;s 2016 election interference, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congrats-to-the-u-s-intelligence-community-back-to-back-u-s-presidential-election-interference-champs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as described by the bombshell Durham Report</a>, RFK Jr. is sounding the alarm for all Americans — regardless of party — who care about actual democratic values and the danger of having a non-existent press to hold the government accountable.
&#8220;This is no partisan skirmish,&#8221; Kennedy tweeted. &#8220;It is about the political weaponization of the FBI to destroy a candidate and then a sitting President. It’s about a matrix of lies so elaborate as to make a mockery of the democratic ideal of an informed citizenry.&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Following <a href="https://twitter.com/mtaibbi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mtaibbi</a>’s terrific reporting on the Durham investigation. This is no partisan skirmish. It is about the political weaponization of the FBI to destroy a candidate and then a sitting President. It’s about a matrix of lies so elaborate as to make a mockery of the…
&mdash; Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1660633920717611009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
As has now been extensively covered, Durham&#8217;s report stated that the U.S. federal government had no grounds to open an investigation into then-candidate Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign and that the Russia investigation never should have happened. In short, it was founded on baseless evidence and smears, seemingly used to thwart and tarnish Trump.
The federal government&#8217;s alleged willingness, and arguable success, to erode the U.S. Constitution and trample on well-established norms could not have been made possible without a lapdog media letting them do it.
Kennedy called out the louts in the legacy newsrooms as well.
&#8220;Maybe most alarming of all, the Durham investigation reveals the abject complicity of the mainstream press, which has yet to admit they were taken in by the big lie, propagated it, and now continues to permit those lies to stand as truth,&#8221; Kennedy added.
Indeed, papers such as The Washington Post received Pulitizers for their reporting. Now that it has all been exposed as the scam it is — will such outlets return their prizes for fake news?
It seems doubtful.
But, as pointed out by Kennedy, the government&#8217;s untoward relationship with the media, and vice versa, isn&#8217;t necessarily new.
Similarly, cable news and traditional media were all too happy to regurgitate the lies that made the Iraq War possible, according to the son of the late-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
&#8220;Further commentary by @ChrisLynnHedges clearly illustrates the similarities between this media convergence on two mendacious mythologies: Russiagate and the Iraq weapons of mass destruction lies, lies, and more lies.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Further commentary by <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisLynnHedges?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisLynnHedges</a> clearly illustrates the similarities between this media convergence on two mendacious mythologies: Russiagate and the Iraq weapons of mass destruction lies, lies, and more lies.<a href="https://t.co/a37repn2Hj">https://t.co/a37repn2Hj</a>
&mdash; Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1660634279007727617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
RFK Jr.&#8217;s Russiagate commentary isn&#8217;t the only time that he has shown a willingness to call out Swamp creatures and those who aid and abet them. RFK Jr. stands at odds with the Democratic Party on topics like Ukraine, COVID, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surging-democrat-presidential-candidate-rfk-jr-takes-surprising-stance-on-trans-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;transgender-identifying&#8221; men in women&#8217;s sports</a>, as well as the unholy marriage of Big Government in bed with Big Business.
It&#8217;s no wonder the Left and their media allies hate the guy.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Robert F Kennedy, Jr.

‘A Matrix Of Lies’; RFK, Jr. Blasts The FBI’s ‘Mockery’ Of Democracy To ‘Destroy’ A Presidential Candidate

‘A Matrix Of Lies’; RFK, Jr. Blasts The FBI's ‘Mockery’ Of Democracy To ‘Destroy’ A Presidential Candidate

2024 Election

Democratic Party

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-durham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Durham</a>&#8216;s long-awaited report serves as a guide for how Congress can further investigate the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russiagate controversy</a>, according to a top GOP lawmaker.
During an appearance Sunday on Fox News, House Judiciary Chairman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jim-jordan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jim Jordan</a> (R-OH) spoke about ways in which he might pick up on investigative leads from Durham&#8217;s report, which heavily criticized the FBI&#8217;s probe into alleged links between <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>&#8216;s 2016 campaign and Russia.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to talk with our lawyers,&#8221; Jordan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic5D1dkCR1Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221;</a> anchor Maria Bartiromo. He also said there would be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mccarthy-expects-fbi-to-share-file-on-biden-bribery-allegations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy</a> (R-CA) on &#8220;where to proceed from here.&#8221;
&#8220;Are there people that were highlighted in the Durham investigation and the Durham report that we need to talk to on the Judiciary Committee? We&#8217;re going to give that a good, hard look,&#8221; Jordan said.
&#8220;Nothing is off the table,&#8221; he added, &#8220;because it is critical the American people understand how their government — their agencies — have been turned on them, the taxpayer, and we get all the facts out there.&#8221;
The chairman was responding to a question about whether he wants to see another investigation into former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12098863/FBI-shut-FOUR-investigations-Hillary-Bill-Clinton-2016-Durham-report-reveals.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after it was reported</a> that Durham found the FBI dropped multiple inquiries related the couple and their non-profit organization in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in which Hillary Clinton was the Democratic nominee.
Jordan is already making moves after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released Durham&#8217;s report last week. He <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1658224663539990533" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> the special counsel to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction in the matter.
Though Jordan did not divulge to Bartiromo on-air whether Durham has agreed to make such an appearance, he said the special counsel&#8217;s report showed &#8220;the FBI had no probable cause, no predicate, no evidence whatsoever, and yet they launch into an investigation of President Trump and his campaign.&#8221;
Armed with other concerns about the FBI, including new revelations about the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/19/fbi-digital-surveillance-misuse-jan6-blm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bureau&#8217;s misuse of surveillance tools</a> and whistleblower allegations of &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-whistleblowers-detail-egregious-abuse-retribution-from-politicized-bureau-house-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">political rot</a>&#8221; within the law enforcement agency, Jordan said lawmakers are considering ways to rein in the FBI.
The chairman listed two areas of focus: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reforms and the appropriations process.
&#8220;We have to exercise our authority, the power of the purse, to limit what the federal government — what the FBI and the Justice Department are doing to the American people,&#8221; Jordan said.

‘Nothing Is Off The Table’: Jim Jordan Outlines Response To Durham Report

'Nothing is off the table': Jim Jordan Outlines Response To Durham Report

Special Counsel John Durham shed another light on the United States&#8217; two-tiered justice system when he concluded the FBI had no evidence to launch the now-infamous &#8220;Crossfire Hurricane&#8221; investigation into then-presidential candidate Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and its alleged ties to Russia.
Durham, who former Attorney General Bill Barr tasked to examine the propriety of the bureau&#8217;s investigation into the former president, released a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">320-page report</a> on Monday after nearly four years of investigation. The report states investigators based the probe on false allegations, found &#8220;sobering&#8221; differences in its approach compared to other politically sensitive cases, and concluded that the Department of Justice and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law.
&#8220;An objective and honest assessment of these strands of information should have caused the FBI to question not only the predication for Crossfire Hurricane, but also to reflect on whether the FBI was being manipulated for political or other purposes,&#8221; the report reads. &#8220;Unfortunately, it did not.&#8221;
The extensive report has prompted demands for accountability within the FBI.
Real Clear Investigations senior writer and Federalist editor Mark Hemingway noted critical takeaways from the report that showcased how the FBI violated reams of established policy and procedures to pursue this investigation.
&#8220;They knew very quickly that it was baseless, and yet they seem to continue to pursue this investigation incredibly aggressively in a way that was totally unprecedented and flew in the face of all kinds of contrary evidence that they had in their possession about it,&#8221; Hemingway told The Daily Wire in a special edition of &#8220;Morning Wire.&#8221;
<h4>LISTEN: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/catastrophic-failure-of-fbi-5-21-23">Catch the full interview on our Sunday Edition of Morning Wire</a>.</h4>
Durham&#8217;s investigation has only led to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-clinesmith-altered-an-email-in-the-trump-russia-probe-to-keep-it-going-he-just-received-probation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conviction</a> of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who was sentenced to 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service for altering an email used in one of the FISA applications alleging that former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had been a source for the Central Intelligence Agency.
The report contrasts former special counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s investigation, which an <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/breakdown-indictments-cases-muellers-probe/story?id=61219489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a> analysis  shows indictments against 34 individuals and three Russian businesses. Eight have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of felonies, including five Trump associates and campaign officials.
Durham may have found the bureau&#8217;s failure sobering, but Hemingway believes the report&#8217;s troubling revelations and sweeping implications represent a &#8220;catastrophic&#8221; politically-motivated animus and bias across the justice system from officials who neglected their respect for civil rights and democracy.
Neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appeared to have any actual evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia, Durham reported, and Crossfire investigators failed to corroborate any of the substantive allegations primarily based on since-debunked notorious dossier provided by former British MI6 spy Christopher Steele.
According to the report, FBI officials learned Steele had relied primarily on sub-sourced tales from U.S.-based Russian national Igor Danchenko, who flunked out of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institute think-tank. Investigation in the Durham report discovered that Danchenko had told another individual that he claimed responsibility for 80% of the &#8216;intel&#8217; and 50% of the analysis contained in the Steele Dossier.
In Hemingway&#8217;s estimation, an example of the so-called intel from Danchenko is the &#8220;golden showers&#8221; tale involving alleged salacious sexual activity taking place at Moscow&#8217;s Ritz Carlton between Russian prostitutes and the former president.
Durham named Democratic PR executive Charles Dolan, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton&#8217;s failed 2008 presidential campaign, as the source who leaked the fabricated story after hearing it from a staff member at the luxury hotel in Russia.
Hemingway further noted that after the FBI knew that Danchenko provided false information, the bureau paid him an additional $300,000 and kept him on the payroll as a confidential human source so they could avoid admitting the agency&#8217;s failure in judgment.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just an absolute travesty and miscarriage of justice in that regard,&#8221; Hemingway said.
Danchenko had been the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation from 2009 to 2011, according to the report. The bureau launched an investigation into Danchenko while he was employed by the Brookings Institution in 2008 after agents interviewed several former colleagues who raised concerns about potential involvement between him and Russian intelligence.
&#8220;During this exchange, Danchenko informed the employee that he had access to people who were willing to pay for classified information.&#8221; according to the report.
Hemingway said the bureau never made any conclusive judgments about the investigation, raising further concerns about why the FBI would source information from a potential Russian agent injecting misinformation into a presidential election.
&#8220;And yet they kept this fact under wrap and used his information to get warrants to spy on the president,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I mean — it&#8217;s just absolute madness that they would just pick and choose information from an unreliable source that they believed could have been a Russian agent.&#8221;
Durham repeatedly makes clear the investigation found no substantive evidence from the beginning corroborating the Russia collusion narrative — and that the Clinton campaign drummed it up. Yet in August of 2016, some of the highest-ranking U.S. officials — CIA Director John Brennan, President Obama, Vice President Biden, AG Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director James Comey — were all involved in briefings on this manufactured narrative.
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Whether the top U.S. officials were committed to partisan objectives, refused to believe an atypical candidate like Trump was anything but malicious, or because Trump represented a populous rejection of an agenda federal officials had been working on, Hemingway said the truth likely comes from a mixture of more conscious efforts.
&#8220;Basically, undermine and possibly, even overthrow a democratically elected president and install someone else simply because they viewed him as a threat to their sort of, you know, established cultural and political order,&#8221; Hemingway said. &#8220;Whatever we want to say about Donald Trump, his election was a loud signal from the American populace that they were very tired of the established center-left order when it came to issues like immigration and foreign policy.&#8221;
&#8220;And they just couldn&#8217;t handle that,&#8221; he added.
Durham&#8217;s report has also prompted demands for accountability over the attempts to downplay the findings by Biden Administration officials and the legacy media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, which both received a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on false claims of collusion despite a glaring lack of evidence.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how anyone could conclude that these people should ever be trusted again on this topic,&#8221; Hemingway said. &#8220;Let alone almost anything else.&#8221;
The FBI responded to the report, which federal authorities characterized as &#8220;missteps&#8221; that led up to Operation Crossfire Hurricane and the following months, while claiming the bureau has implemented some new rules and dozens of policies they believe have fully addressed all the issues Durham highlighted in the report.
&#8220;The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time,&#8221; FBI officials said in a news release. &#8220;Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.&#8221;
But despite the damning evidence, lack of integrity, and regard for established procedures noted by Durham in the report, Hemingway said he doubts any significant indictments or accountability for subverting democracy would come from the investigation.
&#8220;I know that&#8217;s depressing, but knowing the truth always matters,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;Don&#8217;t forget that.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Durham Report is damning as hell, and there&#39;s going to be no big indictments or accountability for what they did to subvert democracy.
I know that&#39;s depressing, but knowing the truth always matters. Don&#39;t forget that.
&mdash; Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) <a href="https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1658215798844825635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He told The Daily Wire until the FBI employs people of integrity willing to commit to the bureau&#8217;s mission — which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-whistleblowers-to-testify-how-bureau-allegedly-abused-power-in-j6-capitol-riot-investigations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former agents-turned-whistleblower</a> allege has shifted from upholding the U.S. Constitution to protecting the agency&#8217;s brand — &#8220;none of this really matters.&#8221;

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