Report: US officials did not have any evidence of collusion between Trump campaign and Russia before probe
From CNN’s Devan Cole, Tierney Sneed and Hannah Rabinowitz
Special counsel John Durham leaves federal court in Washington, DC, in May. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Special counsel John Durham concluded that federal investigators did not have “any actual evidence of collusion” between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia before the FBI launched a years long probe into the matter.
Crossfire Hurricane was the codename for the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe before special counsel Robert Mueller took over.
Durham’s more than 300-page report on the Justice Department's handling of the Russia probe was released publicly Monday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland received the report on Friday. He sent it to Capitol Hill earlier Monday afternoon.
In a letter to Congress accompanying the report, Garland said, “Special Counsel Durham’s unclassified report is attached in full as submitted to me, without any additions, redactions, or other modifications.”
3:38 p.m. ET, May 15, 2023
Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched Trump-Russia probe
From CNN's Zachary Cohen, Devan Cole, Tierney Sneed, Jeremy Herb and Marshall Cohen
John Durham arrives at federal court in Washington, DC, in May 2022. Shutterstock
Special counsel John Durham concluded that the FBI should never have launched its full investigation into connections between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, according to a report compiled over three years by the Trump-administration appointee and released on Monday.
Durham's 300-plus page report also states that the FBI used "raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence," to launch the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation into Trump and Russia but used a different standard when weighing concerns about alleged election interference regarding Hillary Clinton's campaign.
The special counsel, however, did not recommend any new charges against individuals or "wholesale changes" about how the FBI handles politically charged investigations, despite strongly criticizing the agency's behavior.
"Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the {Justice} Department and FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report," Durham wrote.
The report also concludes that "at least on the part of certain personnel intimately involved in the matter" there was "a predisposition to open an investigation into Trump."
Durham's findings that the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign should not have happened are at odds with a previous Justice Department inspector general investigation into the FBI's Russia probe, which identified problems with the investigation but concluded in December 2019 there was sufficient justification to open the inquiry.
Attorney General Merrick Garland sent Durham's report to congressional lawmakers and released the report on Monday.
In a letter to Congress accompanying the report, Garland said, "Special Counsel Durham's unclassified report is attached in full as submitted to me, without any additions, redactions, or other modifications."
Durham's conclusions condemning the FBI's investigation into Trump is sure to fuel the debate about Russia, Trump, the FBI and the 2016 presidential election that is still swirling more than six years after and as Trump is campaigning once again for the White House.
The investigation was launched in May 2019 by Trump's former Attorney General William Barr — a probe that Trump and his right-wing allies repeatedly predicted would "investigate the investigators" and lead to bombshell indictments of those who scrutinized the former president. Four years later, Durham's investigation yielded one minor conviction, two losses at trial and a probe that fell short of the lofty goals set by the former president.
Durham only secured one conviction: the guilty plea of a low-level FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, who avoided jail after admitting to doctoring an email about a surveillance warrant. Durham's other two prosecutions — against a Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer and the primary source for the Trump-Russia dossier — ended with embarrassing acquittals.
4:20 p.m. ET, May 15, 2023
Here's what we know about Durham's investigation into an investigation
From CNN's Marshall Cohen, Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez
Special counsel John Durham departs federal court in Washington, DC, in May 2022. Julia Nikhinson/Reuters
Special counsel John Durham has released a report on his office's investigation into wrongdoing in the Trump-Russia probe.
The FBI opened the initial Russia investigation, codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane,” in late July 2016. Special counsel Robert Mueller inherited that investigation in May 2017, and he wrapped up his work in March 2019. In all, that means the Justice Department spent about two years and eight months investigating the connections between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
As Mueller wrapped up his work in the spring of 2019, then-Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Durham to “investigate the investigators” and review the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe
Barr upgraded Durham to “special counsel” status shortly before the 2020 election, making it politically harder for the incoming Biden-run Justice Department to shut down Durham’s team if they wanted to. Garland has let Durham continue, despite complaints from liberal commentators and Durham’s targets that he is twisting the law in furtherance of a Trump-friendly political agenda.
Prosecutions: In all, Durham has prosecuted just three people: Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst who was a source for the 2016 dossier of allegations about Trump, the acquitted Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann and a low-level FBI lawyer named Kevin Clinesmith.
There are reports that Durham’s team also looked into a wide range of other matters that former President Donald Trump has publicly complained about – without bringing any charges. This includes potential wrongdoing by the CIA and other parts of the US intelligence community, on topics related to Russia’s pro-Trump interference in the 2016 election.
Durham’s team has spent nearly $4.5 million since October 2020, according to financial data released by the Justice Department. The cost of Durham’s first year and half of work, when he was a US attorney and not a special counsel, has not been disclosed.
