Special Counsel John Durham did not hold back when he testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about his devastating report regarding Trump-Russia allegations in 2016.
DURHAM: Our findings were sobering. I tell you, after having spent 40 years-plus as a federal prosecutor, they were particularly sobering for me and a number of my colleagues who have spent decades in the FBI themselves, they were sobering.While I’m encouraged by some of the reforms that have been implemented by the FBI, the problems identified in this report, anybody who actually reads this report, the details of the report, the documented portions of the report, I think will find the problems identified in the report are not susceptible to overnight fixes.As we said in the report, it can not be addressed solely by enhancing training or additional policy requirements. Rather, what is required is accountability, both in terms of the standards by which our law enforcement personnel hold themselves and in the consequences they face for violations of laws and policies of relevance.
Durham said that the FBI missed “significant red flags” because of bias:
DURHAM: “Confirmation bias, as it was alluded to, has to do with our human tendency to accept things that we already think are true and to reject anything else. In this instance, there are any number of significant red flags that were raised, that were simply ignored. If there’s evidence that was inconsistent with the narrative, they didn’t pay attention to it. They didn’t explore it. They didn’t take the logical investigative steps that should have been taken.”
Former FBI Director James Comey didn’t share anything with anyone:
JORDAN: “Did Director Comey share that memorandum with the FISA court?”DURHAM: “I’m — I’m sorry, can you –”JORDAN: “Did he share that memorandum with the FISA court? Did Director Comey do that?”DURHAM: “I’m not aware of if he did.”JORDAN: “Did he share it with the — with the lawyers preparing the FISA application?”DURHAM: “Not to my knowledge.”JORDAN: “Did he share it with the agents on the case, working the Crossfire Hurricane case?”DURHAM: “No.”
Durham reminded everyone that there are good people in the FBI:
DURHAM: “Well, let me — let me give you some real life views on that. I have had any number of FBI agents who I’ve worked with over the years, some of whom are retired, some are still in place, who have come to me and apologize for the manner in which that investigation was undertaken. I take that seriously. These are good, hard working majority of people in the FBI.”
Sniveling pursed lips Adam Schiff thought he was being clever, as he always does. He thought he could catch Durham off guard because no one ever contacts candidates about dirt on their opponent:
DURHAM: “Sir, people get phone calls all the time from individuals who claim to have information like that.”SCHIFF: “Really? The son of a presidential candidate gets calls all the time from a foreign government offering dirt on their opponent? Is that what you’re saying?”DURHAM: “I don’t think this is unique in your experience.”
Crying.
In 2018, Schiff and his staff fell for a trick by Russian comedians. They promised they had dirt on Trump from a foreign government:
The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was the victim of a prank phone call by Russian comedians who offered to give him ‘compromising’ dirt on Donald Trump – including nude photos of the president and a Russian reality show star.DailyMail.com can disclose that after the prank, his staff engaged in correspondence with what they thought was a Ukrainian politician to try to obtain the ‘classified’ material promised on the call.On an audio recording of the prank call posted online, Adam Schiff can be heard discussing the committee’s Russia investigation and increasingly bizarre allegations about Trump with a man who claimed to be Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.The call, made a year ago, was actually from two Russian comedians nicknamed ‘Vovan’ and ‘Lexus’ who have become notorious for their phony calls to high-ranking American officials and celebrities, including UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Elton John.Its existence was first reported by The Atlantic but not how a staff member working for the minority on the House Intelligence Committee pursued the information after the call.Schiff’s office said the congressman suspected the call was ‘bogus’ from the beginning and reported it to authorities afterward.But in a recording of the eight minute conversation, Schiff appeared to take the call seriously – or at least played along convincingly – and emails from the Democrat’s staff to the fake politician afterwards said he had found it ‘productive’.
Then there’s Hank Johnson, who had no idea the point of Durham’s investigation.
Johnson, who once thought Guam would tip over, thought Durham investigated….Hunter:
JOHNSON: “And to the extreme disappointment of some on this panel your investigation failed to produce indictments against Hillary Clinton, correct?”DURHAM: “That’s correct.”JOHNSON: “Didn’t indict Barack Obama.”DURHAM: “That’s correct.”JOHNSON: “Didn’t indict Joe Biden.”DURHAM: “That’s correct.”JOHNSON: “Couldn’t even indict Hunter Biden, correct?”DURHAM: “We didn’t investigate Mr. Hunter Biden.”
JOHNSON: “Let me ask you this, Mr. Durham. You closed your investigation after you failed to find that the FBI investigation into Putin’s interference in the 2016 election was politically motivated and was a deep state conspiracy against ex-President Trump. You are unable to prove that that was true. And so you –“DURHAM: “That isn’t what we — that is not what I was investigating.”JOHNSON: “Well, but you did not find it that was true. Correct? You found it to be false as a matter of fact.”DURHAM: “If you — if you had a chance –“JOHNSON: “Isn’t that correct.”DURHAM: “– if you had a chance to read the report, the report in fact –“JOHNSON: “Well, I did.”
By the way, Durham doesn’t care what others think about him…especially politicians:
COHEN: “You have a good reputation. You had a good reputation, that’s why the two Democrats supported you. But the longer you hold on to Mr. Barr, and this report that Mr. Barr gave you as special counsel, your reputation will be damaged. As everybody’s reputation who gets involved with Donald Trump is damaged, he’s damaged goods, there’s no good dealing with him because you will end up on the bottom of a pyre. I yield back the balance of my time.”JORDAN: “Sure.”DURHAM: “My –“JORDAN: “Can we presume the gentleman is undecided on — on how he feels about the former president? Gentlemen, witness can respond.”DURHAM: “Yeah. My concern about my reputation is with the — the people who I respect and my family and my Lord. And I’m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir.”
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