Special Counsel John Durham determined that the Department of Justice and the FBI lacked the necessary evidence to initiate their “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016.
“Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,” the report, released by the DOJ Monday, said.
“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,” Durham’s report added.
“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 [Donald] Trump’s political opponents,” the report said.
In 2017 and 2018, the House Intelligence Committee, then led by Chairman Devin Nunes, discovered through the subpoenaing of bank records that the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign funded the creation of the Steele dossier.
The FBI and DOJ used this unverified document to obtain FISA warrants to eavesdrop on Trump campaign members.
“The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence,” the report said.
Former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe are referenced by Durham.
In May 2017, then-President Donald Trump dismissed Comey. McCabe was also terminated in March 2018 following a report by the DOJ Inspector General that he had disclosed information to the media in the autumn of 2016 and then repeatedly lied about it to federal agents.
Mueller investigators concluded in a March 2019 report that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia.
On Monday, Trump reacted to Durham’s findings writing on TruthSocial, “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!” he added.
Additionally, Trump told Fox News, “I, and much more importantly, the American public have been victims of this long-running and treasonous charade started by the Democrats — started by Comey.”
“There must be a heavy price to pay for putting our country through this,” he said.
Kash Patel, who was Nunes’ lead counsel on the Intelligence Committee, wrote, “NewsFlash: Durham Report out: it says the exact same thing @DevinNunes and I put out 5 years ago… the Truth. No justification to launch, fbi n doj lied, clinton paid for it n fake news mafia the biggest coconspirators.”
Fox reported that during his investigation, Durham indicted three individuals: former Clinton attorney Michael Sussmann in September 2021, Democratic political operative Igor Danchenko in November 2021, and former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith in August 2020.
Sussmann and Danchenko were declared not guilty in their respective Washington, D.C.-based trials. area. In August of 2020, Clinesmith pled guilty to altering information on a FISA warrant application.
The FBI reacted to Durham’s report with a Monday statement, which read, “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. 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. “