All articles tagged with #trump russia investigation
Robert Mueller, former FBI director and special counsel who led the Trump-Russia investigation, has died at 81 with the cause undisclosed. His death drew tributes from figures across the political spectrum, and his tenure reshaped the FBI and the public record on Russia’s 2016 interference, as documented in the Mueller Report.
Former special counsel John Durham will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on June 21 about his probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. Durham's four-year investigation concluded that the FBI inappropriately launched a full investigation into the allegations, but stopped short of providing any new evidence that anyone in the government had broken the law. Republicans have used Durham's report to make the case that the probe into Russia and its ties to then-candidate Donald Trump were politically motivated and based on a faulty premise, while House Democrats have charged that the Durham report itself is politically motivated.
John Durham, the special counsel investigating the Trump-Russia investigators, will testify before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee in a public hearing on June 21 and behind closed doors with the House Intelligence Committee on June 20. Durham's report revealed that evidence of Trump-Russia collusion never materialized and that Hillary Clinton’s campaign played an outsize role in pushing such collusion claims to the media and the FBI. The report also revealed that FBI personnel repeatedly disregarded critical protections established to protect the American people from unlawful surveillance. Durham's final report did not recommend any new criminal prosecutions.
George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide, criticized the FBI's "pre-determined plan to sabotage the Trump campaign" after the release of Special Counsel John Durham's report. The report revealed that Papadopoulos repeatedly denied any possible collusion with Russia, but his denials were dismissed as "weird" and "rehearsed." Durham argued that the exclusion of Papadopoulos' statements in the FISA warrant application may have been sufficient to meet a negligence standard, but it was insufficient to bring criminal charges against any FBI or Department personnel. Papadopoulos hailed Durham's report as a "profound indictment" on the U.S. intelligence community and called for heads to roll.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not commented on the recent report by Special Counsel John Durham that revealed missteps by the Department of Justice and FBI during the Trump-Russia investigation. Pelosi had previously insinuated that Trump colluded with Russia and that the 2016 election was illegitimate. Durham's investigation found that the FBI failed to uphold its mission of strict fidelity to the law during the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Trump has called for Democrats involved in pushing Russian collusion to pay a "heavy price."
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has filed a resolution to expel Rep. Adam Schiff from Congress, alleging that he pushed a false narrative to the American people in the Trump-Russia investigation. Republicans have been vocal that lawmakers should face the consequences for the report after the Durham report found significant FBI failures and no evidence that Donald Trump's campaign was coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Schiff struck back in a Twitter post, saying that a "MAGA Republican" wants payback. Members of Congress can be removed by expulsion, which requires a two-thirds vote.
House and Senate Democrats have dismissed the findings of Special Counsel John Durham's report that found the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law" when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation. Democrats called it a "process foul" and a "wild goose chase" and said that nobody takes it seriously. The report revealed that officials aggressively went after a sitting president with little evidence.