Durham report torches FBI, DOJ for handling of Trump-Russia probe – Law Officer

By Arjun Singh

(Daily Caller News Foundation) — Special Counsel John Durham found that the FBI used “uncorroborated intelligence” when launching its probe into former President Donald Trump, and that FBI agents failed to maintain “strict fidelity to the law” in their investigation, according to a report released Monday.

Durham, appointed to investigate political bias by the FBI in its investigation of President Trump, wrote that “neither the U.S. nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement” of the investigation. He added that, based on his investigation, the “Crossfire Hurricane investigators did not and could not corroborate any of the substantive allegations contained in the Steele reporting.”

Durham added that the FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law.” Durham also claimed that the investigation into Trump was continued even after “the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence,” according to the report.

Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General Bill Barr in 2020, was tasked with investigating the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign for alleged contact with the Russian government. That investigation, led by FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired shortly after assuming office, was later taken over by Special Counsel Robert Muller, who later reported that there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump campaign officials and operatives of the Russian government.

The special counsel also faulted FBI agents for abusing surveillance laws.

“The FBI personnel also repeatedly disregarded important requirements when they continued to seek renewals of that FISA surveillance while acknowledging — both then and in hindsight — that they did not genuinely believe there was probable cause to believe that the target was knowingly engaged in clandestine intelligence activities on behalf of foreign power,” the report says.

Durham’s investigation led to three indictments, one indictee being Michael Sussman, a former partner at left-wing law firm Perkins Coie and attorney for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. He was later found not guilty of lying to federal agents.

Donald Trump, the House Judiciary Committee and Department of Justice have been contacted with a request for comment.

This article originally appeared at Alpha News.