In what should be a shocking discovery, the Durham Report corroborates the level at which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) undermined their oath and public trust. What the report uniquely shows, however, is the audacity with which ruling-class elites were willing to sink to subvert the will of the American people. And that is still taking place today.
During the 2016 election, the FBI took its cues from Hillary Clinton’s Campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), launching an investigation into their opponent, Donald J. Trump. That part we knew. But after Special Counsel John Durham’s nearly four-year investigation into the origins of the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, we now know that neither the FBI nor the Intelligence Community had any evidence of collusion before launching the investigation. It was an investigation based on political motivations and lies.
Sadly, Clinton and the DNC did not have to tell them twice about the gravity of having power restored into the hands of American voters and taken away from Washington. And when you frame it that way, the rest of the FBI’s corrupt actions make sense.
The Durham report showed next the FBI’s disregard for exculpatory evidence that was available at the time. The report said they “willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia.” And that was important to open the door to even worse corruption and harassment by the FBI.
Durham’s report continued to show that was the basis for the FBI’s warrant to spy on Carter Page and the Trump campaign, granted due to doctored evidence from an FBI lawyer and the intentional omission of more known exculpatory evidence.
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The Page Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants, which kicked Russiagate into high gear, should never have been granted in the first place. For years, people who questioned the so-called “facts” were labeled “conspiracy theorists” but are now vindicated. The Durham report proves that FBI leadership played a significant role in corruption.
During the Crossfire investigation, several case agents expressed concerns to FBI leadership regarding the lack of evidence and faulty allegations. Did baseless claims make the FBI think twice about continuing further, especially when the entire charade was practically at the request of Clinton and the DNC? It did not. FBI management continued to push forward anyway, sending a clear message: The lack of evidence be damned.
Russiagate was one of the greatest threats to the Republic’s preservation and one of the most egregious scandals in our Nation’s history. Ironically, it came from the same groups of people lecturing today about “preserving democracy.” Russiagate — all eight years of it — achieved what its perpetrators intended. Since its inception, the scandal has served as a distraction and election interference tool. It has sought to malign President Trump and all who supported a message of draining the swamp.
Following the release of the Durham Report, supporters of the three letter agencies have tried to shrug off the revelations as “missteps” that no longer exist within the organization due to correction by leadership. There are two significant problems with that argument.
First, no missteps were taken; the American people know it and are now vindicated. The second is it is happening to conservatives consistently and with malintent. What course correction has the Justice and Intel Community undertaken? Not much, it seems. On Tuesday, Biden’s corrupt DOJ announced no jail time for Hunter Biden for tax and gun crimes — for a crime thousands of Americans have spent time in prison.
Meanwhile, they are trying to imprison Biden’s political opponent for 100 years, who happens to be the same opponent they fraudulently investigated for the first time. Not to mention the 25 FBI agents who swarmed a pro-life dad's home. Or the school board moms who were called “Domestic Terrorists.” Or how about the 81-year-old Army veteran who went to the wrong protest? Or the 69-year-old grandma with cancer who was sent to jail for 60 days for trespassing?
Durham’s report is an indictment against the entire administrative state that put its interests far ahead of the people’s will. Americans see it happen repeatedly, and their trust in them is gone. They saw no punishments for those who abused their powers then and expect none for those doing it now. What Durham revealed should have served as a warning shot to all involved, but as of now, it seems no lessons were learned.
Ashley Hayek is the executive director at America First Works.
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