Special Counsel John Durham will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about his report on the FBI’s corrupt “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation in June, Republicans announced Friday.
BREAKING: Special Counsel John Durham will testify before our House Judiciary Committee on June 21.
Accountability is coming.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) May 26, 2023
Durham will appear before the House Intelligence Committee for a closed-door briefing on June 20, and before the Judiciary Committee for a public hearing the next day, according to Fox News.
In his 300-plus page report released on May 15, Durham determined that the FBI had no verified intelligence or evidence to justify the Trump-Russia investigation into former President Donald Trump’s campaign in the summer of 2016.
The Bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane probe was ostensibly opened to investigate whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the presidential election. But the pretext for the investigation was was based on politically motivated opposition research, Durham found: “on July 26, 2016, [former Secretary of State, then-candidate for president Hilary] Clinton allegedly approved a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to tie Trump to Russia as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”
Former Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham to “investigate the investigators” in May 2019 when it became clear that the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe was indeed a political “witch hunt” meant to torpedo Trump’s campaign and then hobble his presidency.
Durham said his investigation 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.”
Overall, the special counsel found that the Department of Justice and FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation.
Despite his scathing criticisms, the special counsel did not recommend any new charges against the major players.
On Tuesday, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to Durham in an effort to understand why senior Justice Department officials and other witnesses faced no repercussions despite their lack of cooperation.
“It seems odd that individuals would be allowed to avoid fully cooperating with your office, particularly given your authority to compel testimony and records,” the senators stated.
Specifically, the senators are interested in information regarding the following individuals:
• James Comey, declined to be interviewed.
• Andrew McCabe, through his counsel, did not agree to be interviewed by your office even after your office “offered to narrow the scope of subjects to be asked about.”
• Peter Strzok, agreed to provide information to your office “concerning matters related to the FBI’s Alfa Bank investigation, but otherwise declined to be interviewed by [your office] on matters related to his role in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”
• Bill Priestap, agreed to provide information to your office “concerning matters related to the FBI’s Alfa Bank investigation, but otherwise declined to be interviewed by [your office] on matters related to his role in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”
• Kevin Clinesmith, declined to be interviewed by [your office] or cooperate with [your office’s] investigation.
• Glenn Simpson, of Fusion GPS declined to be interviewed.
The senators have given the Special Counsel a deadline of May 30, 2023 to provide information about his office’s investigative activities regarding these individuals.
In response to the Durham report, the FBI said in a statement last week: “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.”