It’s a damning report that takes the FBI, James Comey, and the rest of the Department of Justice’s brass to the woodshed over the Russian collusion hoax. The special counsel investigation into the origins of this circus spearheaded by John Durham was released, and the liberal media couldn’t run away from it fast enough. Instead of admitting that they were wrong, which they were from the outset, they’ve doubled down, believing Russian disinformation and outright lies over facts due to political bias. This behavior is as expected, but it’s also the only position for most in the establishment media. They put all their chips in the center of the table on this collusion delusion and lost everything.
The findings ripped apart then-FBI Director James Comey and the bureau for executing investigations into Donald Trump based on zero evidence. Bias was the primary motivator, with FBI officials burying exculpatory evidence to maintain illegal spy warrants on the former president. They knew the Steele Dossier, which provided the foundation for this witch-hunt, was probably a Russian disinformation ploy, and the Clinton campaign funded it. Still, the media, former FBI officials, and anti-Trump Republicans would instead take their ‘Soma’ and believe in fantastic lies about the attempted coup the FBI and the intelligence community tried to cook up with this collusion nonsense.
The New York Times was front and center with their denials with this headline: After Years of Political Hype, the Durham Inquiry Failed to Deliver.
Ironic headline from the New York Times, which spent years hyping the Mueller report and the Russia collusion narrative. pic.twitter.com/9GjHH4CI6S
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) May 17, 2023
“Hype” is a strong word; we already knew what the findings would be based on other inspector general reports, specifically the one about how the bureau conducted itself overall during the 2016 election, which the Left erroneously cited as being evidence that bias didn’t infest the halls of the DOJ. That’s not quite what it said, but nuance is dead. And, of course, that past IG report from Michael Horowitz was used to brush off that the FBI, the DOJ, and the larger IC community’s credibility is shot, exposing that there are more than a few top-level officials who will let partisanship blind them to interfere in a presidential election (via NYT):
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The limping conclusion to John H. Durham’s four-year investigation of the Russia inquiry underscores a recurring dilemma in American government: how to shield sensitive law enforcement investigations from politics without creating prosecutors who can run amok, never to be held to account.
At a time when special counsels are proliferating — there have been four since 2017, two of whom are still at work — the much-hyped investigation by Mr. Durham, a special counsel, into the Russia inquiry ended with a whimper that stood in contrast to the countless hours of political furor that spun off from it.
Mr. Durham delivered a report that scolded the F.B.I. but failed to live up to the expectations of supporters of Donald J. Trump that he would uncover a politically motivated “deep state” conspiracy. He charged no high-level F.B.I. or intelligence official with a crime and acknowledged in a footnote that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign did nothing prosecutable, either.
[…]
There were real-world flaws with the Russia investigation, especially how the F.B.I. botched applications to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser. But the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, found those problems, leaving Mr. Durham with depleted hunting grounds.
Indeed, credit for Mr. Durham’s only courtroom success, a guilty plea by an F.B.I. lawyer who doctored an email during preparations for a wiretap renewal, belongs to Mr. Horowitz, who uncovered the misconduct.
At the same time, Mr. Horowitz kneecapped Mr. Durham’s investigation by finding no evidence that F.B.I. actions were politically motivated. He also concluded that the basis of the Russia inquiry — an Australian diplomat’s tip related to the release of Democratic emails hacked by Russia — was sufficient to open a full investigation.
I’m not saying anything new here: these people will continue to lie to save their backsides. Russian collusion was a hoax. The FBI is corrupt. And you people are the most predictable lackeys in defending election interference from spooks which, needless to say, is rather undemocratic.
1) Don't believe anyone who claims Horowitz didn't find bias. He very carefully says that he found no "documentary" evidence that bias produced "specific investigatory decisions." That's different #IGReport
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) June 14, 2018
3) But he in fact finds bias everywhere. The examples are shocking and concerning, and he devotes entire sections to them. And he very specifically says in the summary that they "cast a cloud" on the entire "investigation's credibility." That's pretty damning. #IGReport
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) June 14, 2018
5) Also don't believe anyone who says this is just about Comey and his instances of insubordination. (Though they are bad enough.) This is an indictment broadly of an FBI culture that believes itself above the rules it imposes on others. #IGReport
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) June 14, 2018
7)It also contains stunning examples of incompetence. Comey explains that he wasn't aware the Weiner laptop was big deal because he didn't know Weiner was married to Abedin? Then they sit on it a month, either cuz it fell through cracks (wow) or were more obsessed w/Trump
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) June 14, 2018
8) And I can still hear the echo of the howls from when Trump fired Comey. Still waiting to hear the apologies now that this report has backstopped the Rosenstein memo and the obvious grounds for dismissal.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) June 14, 2018
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