Report on Prosecutor Investigating Russian Investigation into Trump Released to FBI and Justice Department
After almost four years, John Durham, who was appointed by former President Trump as a special prosecutor to investigate the origins of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, has completed his investigation and released a final report that spans over 300 pages.
In the report, Durham stated that at the beginning of the investigation, there was no real evidence of Russian interference influencing the election in Trump’s favor. He criticized the US Department of Justice and the FBI for not adhering to principles of impartiality and honesty, relying too heavily on information from political opponents, and failing to fulfill their important duty of strict adherence to the law.
Durham emphasized the importance of institutions conducting a proper examination before initiating similar investigations in the future. On social media site TruthSocial, Trump commented that Durham’s findings showed that the FBI should never have initiated the Russia investigation.
US House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has said that Durham is in talks with the Justice Department to testify in Congress next week.
This investigation follows the previous appointment of Robert Mueller as the special prosecutor to investigate the activities of Trump’s campaign during the election process. After almost 2.5 years, no evidence was found to convict Trump, and the case was closed.
Under Trump, US Attorney General William Barr appointed John Durham as a special counsel to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, during which two people admitted to tampering with evidence and trying to convict Trump. One of those implicated was Russian analyst Danchenko, who was on trial for “lying to federal authorities” in October 2021 but was later acquitted in 2022.
