In the final report, the Trump-era special counsel denounces the investigation in Russia
John Durham, the Trump-era special counsel who spent four years conducting a politically charged investigation into the Russia investigation, accused the FBI of a “lack of analytical rigor” in a final report made public on Monday which examined the agency’s investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.
Mr. Durham’s 306-page report appeared to contain little substantial new information about the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane, and it failed to produce the kind of blockbuster revelations that challenged the agency’s former president. Donald J. Trump and his allies had once suggested that Mr. Durham would find.
Instead, the report—released without substantive comment or editing by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland—repeated previously uncovered flaws in the investigation, including from a 2019 Inspector General report, while concluding that the The FBI suffered a confirmation bias in the pursuit of clues about Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.
“During the course of Crossfire Hurricane, facts and circumstances inconsistent with the premise that Trump and/or individuals associated with the Trump campaign were involved in a collusive or conspiratorial relationship with the Russian government were ignored or simply brushed aside.” said mr. stated Durham.
Mr. Durham largely backtracked on the criticisms uncovered in a separate investigation and continued to insinuate that Hillary Clinton’s campaign had fueled the Russia investigation. In 2019, an inspector general found that the FBI had failed eavesdropping applications used in the investigation.
“Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI officials showed a serious lack of analytical rigor with regard to the information they reviewed, particularly information received from politically affiliated individuals and entities,” Mr. Durham wrote. “This information partially caused and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.”
But by using the word “triggered,” Mr Durham’s report echoed a conspiracy theory pushed by supporters of Mr Trump, namely that the FBI opened its investigation in July 2016 based on the so-called Steele dossier, opposition research funded indirectly by the Clinton campaign. that was later discredited.
Like Mr. Durham acknowledged elsewhere in the report, the file did not reach investigators until mid-September. Instead, the FBI opened its investigation based on a tip from Australian diplomats following WikiLeaks’ publication of hacked Democratic emails that a Trump campaign aide previously said he knew beforehand that Russia would release information that could be harmful. are for the Clinton campaign.
The special counsel’s findings were sent to Mr. Garland on Friday and presented to Congress and the news media with no additions or changes, a department spokeswoman said.