FROM THE RIGHT
By Don Schmitz
Special Counsel John Durham’s report on “Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns” was released last month. You heard very little about it, as most media outlets dismissed the report as no big deal because it didn’t result in a slew of indictments. Earlier in the investigation, Durham prosecuted FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith for false statements as he altered an email with the submission of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application. It was for a warrant in the discredited “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation of President Donald Trump. Remember the other special counsel Robert Mueller who spent years investigating whether candidate Trump’s campaign had colluded with the Russian government? In May of 2019 Mueller reported to Congress that there was no collusion. Durham was tasked with investigating how the Russian collusion hoax was initiated, and he placed much of the onus on the FBI. The executive summary states: “It was opened as a full investigation without ever having spoken to the persons who provided the information … Further, the FBI did so without (i) any significant review of its own intelligence databases, (ii) collection and examination of any relevant intelligence from other U.S. intelligence entities, (iii) interviews of witnesses essential to understand the raw information it had received or (iv) using any of the standard analytical tools typically employed by the FBI in evaluating raw intelligence.”
The report concludes the FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” not having sufficient evidence to launch an investigation. Yet launch they did, and stubbornly stuck to it, dragging the country through years of gut-wrenching controversy, ignoring the Senate intelligence committee 2018 release of its bipartisan Russia report, finding no evidence that candidate Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russian government.
Partisans on the left are quick to dismiss the report as a “nothing burger”. Democratic Congressman Daniel Goldman, who served as lead counsel in Trump’s first congressional impeachment, called Durham’s report a “political hatchet job.”
However, the FBI itself is not so dismissive of the criticisms, instituting some 40 reforms internally, and stressing that the failures were of the previous leadership (Comey and McCabe) before Christopher Wray became director in 2017.
“Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,” the FBI said in a statement. “This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.” They admit it — they blew it, badly.
Fired FBI director James Comey who oversaw this mess, leaked classified documents, according to Inspector General (IG) Michael E. Horowitz. Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe committed perjury to the IG, and disgraced FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok, who led the fraudulent investigation of Trump, was fired for texting his mistress that “we’ll stop” him from becoming president. The IG report on FISA abuse stated the DOJ lied to secure a warrant to wiretap Carter Page, and concluded that Democrat Adam Schiff’s memo supporting their actions was completely false. Schiff told the American people that he had seen secret documents proving Trump colluded with Russia. He lied, repeatedly.
One must be blind to not recognize that the top brass of the most powerful law enforcement agency in our country, aided by political opponents and a willing press, worked together to thwart an election. Don’t expect our media to give the attention this deserves. The New York Times and Washington Post were awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize for their “coverage” of the now debunked Russian collusion. Of course, many Democrats and the media want to pretend that the Durham report means nothing, but it’s hugely important, despite their attempts to squelch coverage. Polling finds that 52 percent now have little to no trust in the DOJ, and 46 percent distrust the FBI. That’s tragic.
Whistleblower FBI special agent Garret O’Boyle testified last week before the Senate on Weaponization of the Federal Government that the FBI is “intentionally mishandling investigations,” saying “that rot is at the headquarters level. It is at the top … who have really distorted and twisted the agency.”
Rep. James Comer, House Oversight Committee chair, has threatened criminal charges against Wray for ignoring a subpoena pertaining to a possible criminal scheme funneling millions to the Biden family, and, of course, the FBI has sat on the Hunter Biden laptop for six years and counting. The Durham report isn’t a “nothing burger,” it is a double whopper with extra cheese and bacon, and it should give all of us major indigestion, unless your hatred for Trump overrides disgust with political and law enforcement corruption.
Thomas Jefferson said “The most sacred of the duties of a government is to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.” We’ve failed that sacred duty.