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Special counsel John Durham vindicates FBI and DOJ's investigation into Trump's Russia connections [1]
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Date: 2022-10-19
That Durham could spend over three years, at at least $40 million, pursuing this investigation, journeying to at least three continents in the process, and end with nothing but a single guilty plea on a minor charge that resulted in not a single day in jail … is honestly amazing. If anything, it’s a vindication for the FBI, DOJ, and everyone involved in the investigation into Trump’s Russia connections. Durham kept this up far longer than was reasonable, spent way more than was necessary, and chased down issues so small juries couldn’t see them.
The investigation that Trump said would prove “corruption” revealed just the opposite. What Durham has done, unintentionally, is provide the entire FBI and DOJ team involved in the Trump investigation with a clean bill of health and an A+ rating for doing things by the book.
Durham was originally appointed to head this investigation by attorney general William Barr back on May 13, 2019. When Trump and Barr left town, Durham resigned his position as a U.S. attorney and segued into a position as special counsel to continue checking out every possible lead. That included such forays as chasing rumors about a former CIA director, launching a faux scandal about Trump being “spied on” that Durham was forced to retract in court, and, of course, looking into the Clinton Foundation for no particular reason. There has been no Republican conspiracy theory too ridiculous for Durham to waste his time and taxpayer dollars.
But when it comes to actual results, “thin” barely begins to describe it.
In 2020, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to altering an email to help justify one of the warrants issued to surveil former Trump advisor Carter Page. He got one year of probation, which is now long over.
In May 2022, took attorney Michael Sussman to court on a single charge that he had lied to the FBI about communications between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. Not only did Durham lose that case, but as The Washington Post reported at the time, jurors found it “an easy call.”
“Personally, I don’t think it should have been prosecuted,” the forewoman added, saying the government “could have spent our time more wisely.” A second juror told The Post that in the jury room, “everyone pretty much saw it the same way.”
And now, Durham has lost again in his prosecution of Danchenko. And again, the Post reports that the jury was far from impressed.
The only thing that now remains for Durham to do is to write up his report; a report that, Trump claims, the public is waiting for “with bated breath.” And maybe that report will be more to Trump’s liking. After all, in that report, Durham can make any claim he wants. Because he doesn’t have to convince a judge or jury or be constrained by things like “facts.” He can let his conspiracy freak flag fly.
Durham has looked under the hood. He’s chased down every lead. He’s … use whatever metaphor you want. What Durham has done is prove that the investigation into Trump’s Russia connections was done deliberately and honestly by agents and investigators who worked within the law and within the process of the DOJ. And the reports resulting from the Trump-Russia investigation, including the Mueller report and the independent report produced by a Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, found more than 100 direct communications between Trump’s campaign and Russia. They found grave threats to national security. And they found that Trump both lied and attempted to cover up these connections. In fact, far from absolving Trump, these reports confirmed almost every claim made against him.
it’s nice that Durham has finished checking all this and found that it was all done well, confirming for the third time that claims of connections between Trump’s campaign and Russian government agents were, in fact, true.
Now go away, John.
On Daily Kos’ The Brief, we speak with polling giant Drew Linzer who runs polling firm CIVIQs, comes in to talk about a new poll his team conducted for Daily Kos. He is also here to explain, as a professional, how to not stress out about every time you see a poll going your way or the other way. One thing is for sure though, we are living in historic times and what that means for these midterms cannot be easily predicted—so Get Out The Vote!
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/19/2129916/-Durham-investigation-ends-with-a-huge-loss-as-Steele-dossier-source-found-not-guilty
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