Senate Judiciary Committee to review Durham’s investigation

Ryan King

January 31, 02:57 PM January 31, 02:57 PM

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced Monday that his panel will review the alleged abuses in special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the FBI’s 2016 Russia election interference probe.

Last week, a New York Times report alleged Durham’s investigation was roiled by misconduct, deployed strong-arm tactics against key witnesses, and moved to indict cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann for allegedly making a false statement despite misgivings of two lawyers on his team that fretted the evidence was too thin. Durbin cited the report as grounds for a review.

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“These reports about abuses in Special Counsel Durham’s investigation — so outrageous that even his longtime colleagues quit in protest — are but one of many instances where former President Trump and his allies weaponized the Justice Department,” Durbin said in a statement.

Durham was tasked with examining the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, according to former Attorney General William Barr. He was eventually elevated to special counsel for the Justice Department.

Former President Donald Trump long raged against the FBI’s Russia investigation and accused the government of “spying” on him. After the Durham investigation began, he occasionally cited the Durham inquiry when criticizing the Russia inquiry. However, Durham’s review ultimately yielded little evidence to suggest there was widespread criminal misconduct by the bureau.

Throughout the course of his 3 1/2 year inquiry, Durham snagged one guilty plea and a probation sentence that was not connected to the start of the Russia investigation. He also pursued two prosecutions, against Sussmann and Igor Danchenko for alleged lying, but both of those cases were unsuccessful.

At one point, Durham’s longtime No. 2 aide Nora Dannehy stepped down in 2020 over a “series of disputes between them over prosecutorial ethics,” according to the New York Times. Dannehy was disheartened with Barr’s public commentary on the investigation and disapproved of Durham’s strong-arm tactics against Leonard Benardo, an executive vice president of Soros’s Open Society Foundations.

Durham leaned on a grand jury to pressure Benardo into turning over emails to the inquiry, according to the report.

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“The Justice Department should work on behalf of the American people, not for the personal benefit of any president. As we wait for the results of ongoing internal reviews, the Senate Judiciary Committee will do its part and take a hard look at these repeated episodes, and the regulations and policies that enabled them, to ensure such abuses of power cannot happen again,” Durbin added.

Durham is currently believed to be crafting his final report of his investigation.