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The muted response to the explosive revelations of Special Counsel John Durham regarding the audacious conspiracy to implicate Donald Trump on charges of collusion with Russia in the 2016 American presidential election, will nevertheless give a boost to the former US President’s re-election bid in 2024. Any Democratic Party hopes of fudging the conclusions have been nixed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), caught on the backfoot, admitting that it made “several errors” during the ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation and that Durham’s findings were correct.
Exposing the FBI’s naked partisanship, Durham notes the agency failed to scrutinise the materials and motives of those providing them, despite being aware that “politically-affiliated persons and entities”, namely, the Hillary Clinton campaign, were behind them.
Briefly, Hillary Clinton’s campaign approved “a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services,” and specifically “tying him to Putin and the Russians’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee” to distract the public from her email scandals. CIA Director John Brennan personally briefed President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director James Comey on the “Clinton Plan”, according to his handwritten notes.
The FBI also relied on the “Steele Dossier,” an unreliable report authored by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, that made obscene allegations about Trump’s personal life, despite knowing that this was being funded by the Clinton campaign. Indeed, Christopher Steele even met with FBI agents and corresponded with them.
The report observed that the FBI abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on domestic surveillance to secure warrants to monitor communications by Carter Page and other Trump associates based on the dossier commissioned and funded by Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the Perkins Coie law firm.
A notable aspect of the conspiracy was the alacrity with which the FBI and the Department of Justice investigated Trump, despite lacking an iota of “actual evidence of collusion” between Trump and Russia, as opposed to their reluctance to investigate Clinton’s own campaign. Legal scholar and former Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz, wrote that the Durham Report exonerated Trump and documented “the double standard employed by the Obama administration in favour of Hillary Clinton.”
Understandably, the Republican Party reacted to the report with fury. Donald Trump had always claimed there was a “witch hunt” against him; he demanded that FBI Director James Comey and the Democrats be held accountable for the misuse of the agency as “the national security implications of what they did are very grave.” In an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “I, and much more importantly, the American public have been victims of this long-running and treasonous charade started by the Democrats – started by Comey. There must be a heavy price to pay for putting our country through this.”
Trump appreciated Durham’s three-year-long investigation, saying, “This report took a long time because John Durham is a very thorough investigator.” The 300-page report vindicates Trump on all counts.
Representative Matt Gaetz (FL-R) demanded the registration of criminal charges against officials guilty of misconduct in the Trump investigation. Gaetz said the Durham report is an “absolutely DAMNING treatise on the weaponization of the FBI against President Trump,” as the agency functioned as “the enforcement wing of the Democratic Party to play offense against Trump.”
Senator John Hawley, speaking on the Jesse Waters’ show (May 15), called for the prosecution of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign for perverting justice and federal agencies for political advantage. He demanded a complete overhaul of the FBI and a change in its “corrupt” leadership.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said “Obama’s FBI had zero actual evidence of collusion when they kicked off the political witch hunt of Donald Trump… Now there must be consequences.” Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert demanded more accountability within government agencies, tweeting that “The FBI corruption revealed by the Durham Report is unforgivable. The FBI must engage in serious structural reform, including firing deep state operatives”. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) agreed, adding that she would try to hold those responsible for the unjustified probe “accountable.” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said, “the swamp does not like any outsider whatsoever.”
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa denounced the FBI and Department of Justice officials for aiding and abetting the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in pushing baseless allegations of Russian collusion with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Calling the allegations “one of the dirtiest smears in American history,” Grassley said they “robbed the American people of three years and tens of millions in taxpayer dollars.”
Grassley said, “The FBI allowed itself to be hijacked and weaponized by political actors to target a political rival during a presidential election and administration.” To restore its credibility the FBI should cooperate with an investigation he and Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, were conducting into a document detailing a whistle-blower’s claims of an alleged criminal scheme involving a foreign national and then-Vice President Biden. The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena on May 3 to FBI Director Christopher Wray for FD-1023 forms created in June 2020 that mention Biden, but the agency has failed to provide the document to the Committee.
Coming amidst unending revelations of Hunter Biden’s laptop and financial dealings with foreign powers while his father was Vice President, the Durham report has stunned America, despite the low-key reportage in the media.
Other scandals are shredding the disintegrating credibility of the Biden administration. Whistleblower Marcus Allen, an intelligence analyst for the FBI, informed Congress via his lawyer, Tristan Leavitt, that the agency punished him for expressing doubts about the accuracy of the FBI director Wray’s congressional testimony regarding the agency’s investigation into the events of January 6, 2021, at the Capitol. Allen sent an email to his agency bosses challenging the impression given to Congress that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies had not infiltrated groups like Proud Boys prior to the incident. Allen was denied his pay and had his Top Secret security clearance suspended.
Meanwhile, emails and documents on Hunter Biden’s laptop show his involvement in a meeting with the US ambassador to Romania regarding a corruption case implicating Gabriel Popoviciu. The latter paid Biden over $1 million while facing corruption charges in Romania. Biden and lawyers from the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner tried to intervene in the case but did not register as foreign agents as mandated by the Lobbying Disclosure Act and Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Previously, in 2014, Biden and lawyers from Boies Schiller held meetings with State Department officials to promote Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company whose owner faced bribery accusations. However, after a probe by the Justice Department, Blue Star Strategies, a consulting firm involved with Biden on the Burisma case, registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Biden also attempted to lobby the State Department on behalf of the Chinese private equity firm, BHR Partners.
The ranks of the disgraced include journalist Lesley Stahl, who, weeks before the 2020 presidential election interviewed President Trump for “60 Minutes” and mocked his March 2017 claim that Barack Obama was illegally spying on his presidential campaign in 2016. The Durham report has revealed that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats were spying on the Trump Tower servers and later on the Trump White House servers.
The Biden administration has also been accused of punishing a whistle-blower who highlighted political interference in the Hunter Biden tax probe by the IRS. At least two more FBI agents have alleged similar discrimination against them.
In contrast to the kid-glove treatment meted out to Hunter Biden, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates in October 2017. Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI regarding his work for Turkey.
The US presidential election can be expected to generate more sound and fury in the countdown to November 2024. The Biden campaign will have difficulty in deflecting the charges, which could improve the prospects of Democratic challenger, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
References
1] FBI Makes Huge Admission After Durham Releases Final Report, Martin Walsh May 16, 2023. https://conservativebrief.com/fbi-makes-73343/?utm_source=CB&utm_medium=550
2] WATCH: Matt Gaetz TEARS Into The FBI After Durham Report, DEMANDS Charges And Budget Cuts Against The Bureau, Connor Cavanaugh, May 16, 2023.
3] WATCH: Hawley Calls For Clinton Prosecutions After Durham Report, Chris, May 16, 2023. https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/watch-hawley-calls-for-clinton-prosecutions-after-durham-report-mace/?utm_source=proude&utm_medium=twitter
4] Donald Trump Fires Back Following Durham Report – ‘There Must Be A Heavy Price To Pay’, Connor Cavanaugh, May 16, 2023. https://dcenquirer.com/donald-trump-fires-back-following-durham-report-there-must-be-a-heavy-price-to-pay/?utm_source=89385
6] FBI Whistleblower Comes Forward With Details Challenging Bureau’s Narrative Of January 6th, Alleges FBI Leadership Retaliated Against Him, Ilan Hulkower, May 17.
7] Unforgiveable’: Boebert Slams ‘FBI Corruption’ After Durham Report Findings, Jon Dougherty, May 16, 2023. https://conservativebrief.com/unforgiveable-73350/
10] ‘The Durham Report Exonerates Trump’: Alan Dershowitz Goes Off On FBI’s ‘Anti-Trump Double Standard’, Ilan Hulkower, DC Enquirer, May 17, 2023.
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