Is U.S. Attorney Durham dropping two-year investigation into 'Spygate' to 'appease Biden'?

Screenshot: John Durham Compromises Credibility With Public Statement On IG Report | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

It’s not over: US Attorney General appoints special counsel to continue Russia hoax origins

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WASHINGTON, DC – It’s far from over.

United States Attorney General William Barr appointed US Attorney John Durham as a special counsel who will be charged with continuing the investigation into the origins of the now infamous Russian collusion hoax. 

The appointment was first reported on by the AP and Fox News reports that the appointment was made by Barr on October 19th.  Barr waited until December 1st to notify the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.  In the letter informing them of the appointment, Barr said:

“On May 13, 2019, I directed John Durham, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, to investigate certain intelligence and law-enforcement activities surrounding the 2016 presidential election. 

Although I had expected Mr. Durham to complete his work by the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional information he uncovered, prevented him from doing so.

“In advance of the presidential election, I decided to appoint Mr. Durham as a Special Counsel to provide him and his team with the assurance that they could complete their work, without regard to the outcome of the election.”

Fox News reported that they obtained a scope order from Barr to Durham which provides the legal perimeters in which he is forced to operate. 

In the scope order, Durham “is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.”

Durham would work in the same guidelines in reporting his findings as did Mueller when he conducted the Russian collusion claims. 

Under US Code, the special counsel will compile a report that will be kept confidential and submitted to the Attorney General upon completion.  The Attorney General will then decide what, if any information, is permitting to be made public.

Barr’s move at appointing Durham as a special counsel all but ensures that his investigation will continue, even if current democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden wins the election. 

This is because current regulations stipulate that a special counsel can only be fired by the Attorney General, and only in specific instances of misconduct, dereliction of duty, or conflict of interest. 

Any justifications for the termination of a special counsel must be documented in writing by the Attorney General.

As expected, democratic leaders, like House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, voiced their displeasure over the appointment and claim that the move was only made to “settle old scores.”  Nadler said:

“And we should not lose sight of the larger pictures: in the waning days of the Trump administration, the attorney general has once again used the powers of his office to settle old scores for the president.”

However, some Republican leaders have praised Barr for his move, claiming that the system had failed during Mueller’s investigation into whether or not President Trump or members of his team had colluded with Russia in attempts to win the Presidency. 

The Mueller investigation ultimately concluded that there were no acts of collusion as claimed and the dossier used to start the investigation has largely been discredited. 

Durham’s investigation has netted one arrest so far against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. 

Clinesmith was accused of altering an email relating to the investigation that allowed a FISA warrant to be continued when otherwise it might have been shut down.  Clinesmith was charged with making a false statement and promptly plead guilty in August. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10th.

While there is no time frame available as to when Durham will complete his investigation, it is likely that it will be after the new President is inaugurated next month.

Previous reports suggested that Durham was backing down:

Is U.S. Attorney Durham dropping two-year investigation into ‘Spygate’ to ‘appease Biden’?

WASHINGTON, DC – One report claims that U.S. Attorney John Durham might be dropping the infamous “Spygate” investigation two years after it began, causing concern that no one will be brought to justice for spying on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and alleged misconduct on behalf of intelligence officials and law enforcement.

Trump has long asserted that the FBI and Obama administration-era officials spied on his campaign and later attempted to spread disinformation tying him to Russia.

According to Sean Davis of The Federalist, a source, who is allegedly familiar with Durham’s investigation, recently informed the web magazine:

“Durham isn’t doing anything. Dropping his investigations. He’s worried about blowback from Biden. What an absolute disgrace.”

In September, Time suggested that Attorney General William Barr ultimately is the person who will control how and when Durham’s findings are presented.

Barr himself said that his initial review of the origins of the Russia probe produced more questions than answers. In an ABC interview last year, Barr said:

“I don’t want to speculate. What I will say is I’ve been trying to get answers to questions and I found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and I have also found that some of the explanations I’ve gotten don’t hang together. In a sense I have more questions today than I did when I first started.

“The fact of the matter is [special counsel] Bob Mueller did not look at the government’s activities. He was looking at whether or not the Trump campaign had conspired with the Russians.

“He was not going back and looking at the counter intelligence program, and we have a number of investigations underway that touch upon it.

The main one being the office of inspector general that’s looking at the FISA warrants. But as far as I’m aware, no one has really looked across the whole waterfront.”

So, what exactly has Durham been quietly investigating?

In the spring of 2019, Durham’s mission included looking into a number of countries, including Ukraine, that were involved in the counterintelligence investigation directed at Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election.

According to Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, Durham’s mandate was to determine whether “intelligence collection activities by the U.S. government related to the Trump 2016 Presidential Campaign were lawful and appropriate.”

Durham also was tasked with looking into the scandal that involved using Hillary Clinton’s opposition research to lie about Trump being a “Russian asset” to hide her email and private server scandal.

The bad intelligence was used to lie on applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). It was later learned in leaked documents that President Obama was made aware of Clinton’s plot by then-CIA Chief John Brennan.

Last week, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said he had regrets after agreeing to a FISA application that sought to renew surveillance on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2017.

McCabe made the admission during a Senate Judiciary Committing hearing last week. McCabe was asked by Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) about whether he would have signed the warrant application in 2017 to surveil Page if he knew then what he knows now.

McCabe replied, “No sir.” He also added:

“I signed a package that included numerous factual errors or failed to include information that should have been brought to the court.”

So far, Durham’s investigation has resulted in one guilty plea from former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to making a false statement when he altered an email used in a request for a warrant against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

It’s not known whether Durham is pursuing other criminal matters, but Barr has traveled internationally to enlist the support of foreign officials in Durham’s investigation, including to the U.K. and Italy, according to Time.

Also, if Durham does not have any other criminal indictments resulting from his investigation, typically the Justice Department would refrain from making much information public.

Time noted the Department tends not to release information about what it has found about someone if that person isn’t going to be criminally charged.

In December of 2019, Justice Department Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz released a report based on his own office’s probe of “Crossfire Hurricane.” Horowitz found that the FBI had adequate justification to open the investigation and did not find evidence of political bias in the decision.

While Horowitz did acknowledge he found lying and wrongdoing by those involved, some were not charged, including former FBI Chief James Comey, because the IG’s office had no authority to refer charges against those no longer under the purview of the government agency, according to PJ Media.

However, both Durham and Barr publicly disagreed with some of Horowitz’s conclusions. Durham released a statement saying:

“Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”

At the time, some interpreted Durham’s statement as suggesting that criminal indictments might be forthcoming in the future.

Some thought Durham might charge people prior to this year’s presidential election, but others thought he would follow the unwritten “60-day rule” that urged caution on taking major action in any politically significant cases within a window of time before an election if it could affect the results.

Thus far, Durham’s investigation has not affected the election, and there haven’t been any more charges publicly revealed.

New York Times declared Durham’s investigation as essentially over in October:

“Part of Spygate’s fizzle may be related to the fact that three years on, none of Mr. Trump’s political enemies have been charged with crimes.

“Last year, a highly anticipated Justice Department inspector general’s report found no evidence of a politicized plot to spy on the Trump campaign — angering believers who thought the report would vindicate their belief in a criminal ‘deep state’ plot against the president.”

The Epoch Times reported on Nov. 16 that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) expects Durham to release a report “real soon.”

Jordan, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, spoke with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday and told her Durham is “doing his work” and to “expect some kind of report” in the near future. He also expressed the frustration that others feel:

“Like you, I am frustrated that it didn’t happen sooner, but, look, you and I can’t prosecute anyone. We can’t indict anyone. All we can do is get the facts out to the American people. The Justice Department has to do that. I’m hopeful they are going to have something real soon for the American people.”

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About The Author

I am a proud husband to a wife who works in education and the father to two wonderful children. My first focus is on my family and spending time with them, my second is on my career. I am a current law enforcement lieutenant and have been an officer for over twenty years. Chris Elliot is a pen name for safety reasons.

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