![]() Republicans argued Trump’s opponents attacked and investigated him for years without result. “Instead, Republicans have planned this hearing and constructed an entire false narrative around the work of special counsel Durham in an effort to distract from the former president’s legal troubles and mislead the American public,” Nadler said. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said the “extraordinarily sensitive national security information” about weapons systems, nuclear programs and vulnerabilities to attack. Both sides keep an eye on 2024 presidential campaignĭemocrats argued the hearing was called to distract from the 37-count federal indictment against Trump for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. ![]() “They had to look at it, yes,” Durham said, although he distinguished between an “assessment” and a full investigation. The FBI an “affirmative obligation” to look at possible links between the Trump campaign and Russian government, Durham’s report said. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., each noted that Durham said the FBI had to review the tip from Australian diplomats that a Trump campaign aide had said they had numerous emails from Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Durham didn’t recommend additional remedial actions for the FBI or Justice Department because they had already adopted changes. Nadler said Durham revealed little more than the previous report from the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz. “He brought just two cases to trial and lost them both,” said Rep. Durham acknowledged he could have charged Hillary Clinton or other public figures if he had the evidence, but did not. One former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty and two other defendants were acquitted at trial. ![]() Democrats focus on lack of convictions, need for inquiryĭemocrats focused on the lack of convictions from Durham’s investigation. “It’s clear there was no collusion,” Fry said of the Trump campaign and Russia. 18, 2016, after being asked whether Trump would become president. Russell Fry, R-S.C., cited a text message Peter Strzok, the FBI official who opened the inquiry, sent Aug. Ben Cline, R-Va., said the report found the FBI did not have an adequate basis to launch the inquiry called Crossfire Hurricane, continued when agents couldn’t verify evidence, agents didn’t interview key witnesses and individuals abused their authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.Ĭline called the report “outrageous and deeply troubling.” Here are highlights from the hearing: GOP focuses on political bias against Trump, flaws in FBI investigation It is going to take time to rebuild the public’s confidence.” “The findings set forth in this report are serious,” Durham said. But Durham and some lawmakers argued change may take years and require more than new personnel.ĭemocrats highlighted that Durham found the FBI had an obligation to start the inquiry based on a tip Australian diplomats heard from a Trump campaign aide – months before receiving a notorious dossier of accusations against Trump.īut Durham said the FBI should have done a more modest “assessment” rather than jumping into a full investigation with surveillance during a weekend three days after the Australian tip. The FBI and Justice Department are under new leadership and adopted dozens of changes to improve surveillance oversight. Durham’s report and a previous inspector general’s probe exhaustively detailed problems with how the FBI pursued the investigation. Republicans hammered away at flaws in the FBI and Justice Department conduct and pursuit of the inquiry into Russian interference, saying there was no justification to start. The arguments weren’t over facts in the report, but over implications for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and whether lawmakers should rein in federal surveillance. WASHINGTON – The federal investigation into Russian interference in 2016 took center stage in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday, with Republicans and Democrats sparring over the political implications of a report by special counsel John Durham on the origins of the probe. ![]()
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