FBI Should Not Have Launched Trump-Russia Probe

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A report by Special Counsel John Durham released Monday found the FBI should not have launched a full investigation into the connections between former President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, with the report saying the FBI used “raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence” to justify the investigation.

FILE – Special counsel John Durham, the prosecutor appointed to investigate potential government … [+] wrongdoing in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe, leaves federal court in Washington, May 16, 2022. Durham ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The report Monday, May 15, 2023, from Durham offers withering criticism of the bureau but a meager court record that fell far short of the former president’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Key Facts

The special counsel didn’t recommend any new charges or any procedural changes about the FBI’s handling of “politically charged investigations” moving forward, despite the report’s heavy criticism of the investigation.

The report determined the FBI used a different standard when deciding whether to investigate Trump and Russia than they did when considering an investigation of Trump’s then-opponent, Hillary Clinton, with regard to alleged election interference via accepting donations from foreign entities in exchange for potential influence if elected.

The report also found “certain personnel” involved in the decision to open the investigation into Trump had “a predisposition” to do so, citing the now-infamous text exchange between former FBI Agent Peter Strzok and then-FBI attorney Lisa Page, in which Strzok told Page that Trump wouldn’t become president because “we’ll stop it.”

Durham’s investigation, which has been going on since 2019, ended with just one conviction, that of Kevin Clinesmith, an FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring an email about a surveillance warrant but avoided jail time.

The findings in Durham’s report clash with a previous Justice Department investigation into the FBI’s Russia probe, according to CNN, which recognized there were problems with the investigation but found it was an appropriate situation to investigate.

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