In a groundbreaking revelation, Special Counsel John Durham stated in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the FBI overlooked 2016 intelligence indicating Hillary Clinton’s potential involvement in a plan to link then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to Russia.
This comes in the wake of his report suggesting that both the Justice Department and the FBI had no grounds for initiating the Trump-Russia investigation.
In his first public testimony, Durham criticized the FBI’s approach, stating, “The FBI was too willing to accept and use politically funded and uncorroborated opposition research, such as the Steele dossier.”
He added that the Bureau’s dependence on the Steele dossier and FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) applications indicated its propensity to rely on politically charged information, potentially originating from rival campaigns.
Durham further elaborated that the Bureau persisted in its stance even after the President of the United States, the directors of the FBI and CIA, and other officials were briefed about the intelligence hinting at a plan from the Clinton campaign to create a scandal by associating Trump with Russia.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, led a line of inquiry focusing on the “Clinton Plan Intelligence,” information that was allegedly withheld from the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane team investigating possible Trump-Russia collusion.
When quizzed by Jordan about his interaction with one of the investigators, Durham revealed, “We interviewed the first supervisor of the Crossfire investigation, the operational person,” who was revealed to be agent Joe Pientka.
When shown the intelligence information, Pientka expressed that he had never seen it, reacted emotionally, and left the room with his attorney.
Jordan concluded that Pientka was frustrated since crucial information was withheld from him, a sentiment that Durham concurred with.
Durham’s report also highlighted the role of then-CIA Director John Brennan who had briefed then-President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and other high-ranking national security officials in July 2016 about the significance of this intelligence.
Although Brennan promptly forwarded this information to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, the FBI failed to act on it.
This failure, Durham stated in his report, should have been a clear warning sign for the FBI, making them cautious about accepting information from partisan sources, like the Steele Reports, and the Alfa Bank allegations, whether or not the “Clinton plan intelligence” was reliable or not.
Durham’s testimony was part of a lengthy House hearing in which he justified his prolonged investigation.
“At no time and in no sense did we act with a purpose to further partisan or political ends,” he insisted.
He went on to say, “We found troubling violations of law and policy in the conduct of highly consequential investigations directed at members of a presidential campaign and ultimately, a presidential administration,” stressing the nonpartisan nature of the law.
However, the hearing saw Democrats criticizing Durham, with some calling him a “political hack” and warning that his reputation has suffered due to his association with Donald Trump.
Durham responded, “My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord,” and expressed comfort with his reputation among them.
