FBI should never have launched Trump-russia investigation, says inquiry
THE Department of Justice and FBI should never have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s links to Russia in the 2016 election, a four-year inquiry by a prosecutor has found.
A 300-page report by special counsel John Durham was critical of the decision to begin what became the Mueller investigation, and said the FBI leadership at the time “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law.”
It concluded there had been a “predisposition to open an investigation into Trump,” and that there was no “actual evidence of collusion” with Russia when it began.
Mr Trump has always maintained that the investigation, which began as an FBI inquiry codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane,” was a political “witch hunt”.
He was expected to seize on Mr Durham’s findings as he runs for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-russia Probe! In other words, the American Public was scammed.”
The report was critical of investigators’ decisions to use information from the so-called Steele dossier, compiled by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, to obtain surveillance warrants against a Trump campaign official.
It also said investigators relied too heavily on tips provided by Mr Trump’s political opponents.
Mr Durham also accused the FBI of treating the probe into Mr Trump’s campaign differently from other politically sensitive investigations.
Mr Durham said: “The Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report.
“Senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigour towards the information they received, especially information from politically affiliated persons and entities.”
He added: “This information, in part, triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane, and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller’s investigation.”
He said there was “significant reliance” on investigative leads provided, or funded, by Mr Trump’s opponents.
Mr Durham criticised the FBI for opening a major investigation too quickly based on “raw, unanalysed and uncorroborated intelligence”.
He also accused investigators of repeated “confirmation bias” and ignoring evidence that undercut the idea of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Investigators had failed to “adequately consider alternative hypotheses” and had not acted with “appropriate objectivity or restraint” in pursuing the allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and a foreign power.
The Mueller investigation concluded in March 2019 that Russia intervened in the 2016 election on the side of Mr Trump, but did not find a conspiracy.