Special Counsel John Durham will testify before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed hearing on Tuesday and in a public hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, giving lawmakers their first chance to ask questions about the scathing report Durham released last month laying bare the FBI's handling of the "Russian collusion" hoax and subsequent Crossfire Hurricane probe.
In a 306-page report issued on May 15 after his years-long investigation, Durham explained how "objective facts show that the FBI’s handling of important aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane matter were seriously deficient" and "based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the (Justice) Department and FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report."
In brief, as Katie reported at the time, "Durham found the FBI should have never opened the investigations and that they were led by politically motivated actors like former FBI agent Peter Strzok" because, among other shortcomings, Durham discovered that "the FBI had no information in its holdings indicating that at any time during the campaign anyone in the Trump had been in contact with any Russian intelligence officials" at the time Crossfire Hurricane was launched.
In the wake of Durham's report, the Biden Justice Department and FBI have not pursued accountability or announced any reforms, something legal scholar and law professor Jonathan Turley said isn't likely to happen without outside pressure from Congress. Previewing this week's testimony, Turley called the Durham hearings "enormously important" as they present the "first opportunity to get John Durham to respond to basic questions about how this happened."
"The fact is that the FBI and the Department of Justice has routinely assured the public that they have reformed themselves, and yet the same pattern seems to play out year by year," Turley reminded, "these allegations of political motivations and bias and it's beginning to show up in the polls" illuminating a "deep distrust in the FBI and the Department of Justice."
Despite the agencies' claims of reform, Turley said "it's going to have to be changes forced by Congress" to actually remedy issues that continue to arise. "We have seen that these departments are not very good at policing themselves," even as the American people "clearly want" to see impartiality restored.
"Congress is going to have to get tough."
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) June 19, 2023
Turley previews this week's Durham hearings and the FBI/DOJ reforms that will need to be required since "these departments are not very good at policing themselves." pic.twitter.com/0lhAiP65Zv
"The key is going to be greater transparency," Turley emphasized. "We've seen the FBI, in the last few weeks, continue to fight with Congress about the release of even single documents," he reminded, invoking the agency's refusal to turn over documents alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
"Congress is going to have to get tough, and to say that we want more transparency about what has occurred in these areas where they are accused of political bias," Turley concluded.
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