Following the publication of his contentious report, special counsel John Durham, who examined the origins of the FBI’s investigation into potential connections between Russia and the 2016 campaign of former president Donald Trump, is appearing twice before Congress this week.
In his testimony today, Durham claimed that Obama, the CIA, and other DOJ officials were fully aware of Hillary’s scheme to associate Trump with Russia. But they knowingly took her politically motivated study as fact and utilized it as support for their allegations against Donald Trump.
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Durham gave a closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday before testifying publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
When asked about his findings, Durham said the FBI failed to “sufficiently scrutinize information it received” and did not “apply the same standards to allegations it received about the Clinton and Trump campaigns.”
“The FBI was too willing to accept and use politically funded and uncorroborated opposition research, such as the Steele dossier,” Durham said. “The FBI relied on the dossier and FISA applications, knowing there was likely material originating from a political campaign or political opponent.”
He added that the FBI “did so even after the president of the United States, the FBI and CIA directors and others received briefings about intelligence suggesting that there was a Clinton campaign plan underway to stir up a scandal tying Trump to Russia.”
Durham gave a lengthy House hearing in which he maintained his years-long probe and said that “at no time and in no sense did we act with a purpose to further partisan or political ends.”
“To the extent that somebody suggests otherwise, that’s simply untrue and offensive,” Durham said, adding that his findings are “serious” and “deserve attention from the American public and its representatives.”
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“We found troubling violations of law and policy in the conduct of highly consequential investigations directed at members of a presidential campaign and ultimately, a presidential administration,” Durham said. “To me, it matters not whether it was a Republican campaign or a Democrat campaign. The law ought to apply to everybody in the same way,” he added.
The internet went into a frenzy, reacting to Durham’s claims. Here are some reactions:
