Special counsel Durham testifies to Congress about FBI investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign

After releasing a report last month on the FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, special counsel John Durham testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

“Many of the most significant issues documented in the report, including those relating to lack of investigative discipline, failure to take logical investigative steps, and bias, are relevant to important national security interests,” he said in his written testimony.

Durham, a Justice Department official, was serving as the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut in 2019 when William Barr, the Attorney General at the time, tapped him to examine the FBI’s decision to investigate the Trump campaign. Durham continued his probe as special counsel under the Biden administration.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives said the report showed the political weaponization of federal agencies, while Democratic lawmakers questioned the integrity of Durham’s investigation.

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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said during the hearing that the Department of Justice and the FBI should have their budgets cut over the investigation into Trump.

“I don’t think more training, more rules is going to do it. I think we have to fundamentally change the process, we have to use the appropriations process to limit how American tax dollars are spent at the Department of Justice,” Jordan said.

He said on Twitter that the executives at FBI headquarters “unanimously supported” the investigation without considering the credibility of the allegations.

“They were out to get Trump no matter what,” Jordan said.

In response to questions from Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., Durham said the FBI opened “Crossfire Hurricane,” the FBI’s code name for its investigation into the Trump campaign, without any evidence.

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., asked Durham if the FBI had done its due diligence and cross-referenced the tip that led to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation with their own Russian experts, would they have found no sustainable proof, to which Durham said yes.

According to Fox News, Durham also said that the standards weren’t applied the same way to Trump’s and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

“The FBI was too willing to accept and use politically funded and uncorroborated opposition research, such as the Steele dossier,” Durham said, referring to research compiled by a former British intelligence officer for the Clinton campaign.

“The FBI relied on the dossier and FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) applications, knowing there was likely material originating from a political campaign or political opponent.”

After Durham’s report was published in May, the FBI released a statement saying that since then, the agency has “implemented dozens of corrective actions.”

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“Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,” the statement said.

During the more than four hours long hearing, Democratic representatives slammed Durham for his involvement with Trump and Barr and said he showed bias.

“My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord,” Durham responded, per CNN. “And I’m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called Durham’s investigation a “flimsy” effort to push forward a narrative constructed by the former president.

“Mr. Durham constructed a flimsy story built on shaky inferences and dog whistles to far-right conspiracy theorists,” Nadler of New York said. “By prolonging his investigation. Durham was able to keep Donald Trump’s talking points in the news, long after Trump left office.”

The 300-plus-page report has resulted in three investigations, according to CBS News.

1. Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty last summer to altering an email that was later used in an application to surveil Carter Page, Trump’s campaign advisor at the time.

2. Cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann was charged with lying to the FBI when sharing a tip about the possible connection between Trump and Russia, per The New York Times. He had ties to the Clinton campaign and was acquitted in court.

3. Igor Danchenko, the Russian analyst, was also acquitted of lying to the FBI. He provided research that led to the Steele dossier.