Democrats have reacted dismissively to the long-awaited investigation into the origins of the Russian collusion inquiry, with some critics of special counsel John Durham citing a 2019 inquiry to claim the matter had already been settled.
The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, did indeed examine FBI conduct in the Russia investigation during the Trump administration. Horowitz’s findings were highly critical of the FBI and came with a list of recommendations for sweeping changes to the bureau, many of which its leaders adopted.
Other critics — including Andrew Weissmann, a former top Justice Department official who worked in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s office during the Russia investigation — cited the inspector general report extensively to defend the FBI from Durham’s claim of widespread political bias. The Justice Department inspector general in an earlier report had uncovered the now-infamous text messages between two high-ranking FBI officials who discussed their eagerness to stop Trump from becoming president at the time both were involved in the Russia investigation.
Horowitz’s inquiry found “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant aimed at a former Trump associate, including “basic, fundamental, and serious errors” that agents committed when asking a judge to approve multiple warrants. Even when evidence collected from surveillance of that aide actually weakened their existing case for justifying the spying, the agents persisted, Horowitz found.
Beyond the lack of hard evidence of bias in the Horowitz report, Durham’s critics have also focused heavily on the IG’s finding that the FBI had a legitimate basis to open the Russia investigation in the first place. In other words, Horowitz sought only to determine whether the FBI violated the letter of its own loose rules; Durham sought to examine whether the FBI acted ethically and prudently and found the bureau lacking.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
No remorse: Democrats stick to Trump-Russia collusion claims despite Durham reportDemocrats aren't buying the findings of a years-long, independent investigation that found the FBI lacked 'actual evidence' to justify its probe into whether former President Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 election.
Read more »
Durham Report confirms Russian Collusion Investigation against Trump was a hoax -WASHINGTON D.C. (KUSI) – Special Counsel John Durham has released his long-awaited report into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, and he has found that the FBI had no verified evidence to launch the initial investigation. Furthermore, it confirms reports the former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, then-VP Joe Biden all signed off on the investigation into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential...
Read more »
Media rushes to dismiss Durham findings that further debunked beloved Russian collusion narrativeMembers of the establishment media are rushing to dismiss Special Counsel John Durham’s report that reiterated one of their beloved talking points was bogus all along.
Read more »
Russian mercenary chief offered to give up Russian troop positions to Ukraine: ReportWagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin reportedly offered to betray Russian troop positions to Ukraine in exchange for Ukrainian forces pulling back from Bakhmut.
Read more »
Durham report: Lawmakers react to long-awaited findings on Trump-Russia investigationLawmakers are reacting to the highly anticipated report from special counsel John Durham that looked into the origins and conduct of the FBI investigation regarding alleged ties between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
Read more »
Signs that John Durham’s investigation of Trump-Russia investigators is overMore signs are pointing to special counsel John Durham’s investigation of the Trump-Russia investigators being done, including the Justice Department dropping a Freedom of Information Act exemption related to investigations.
Read more »