Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is calling for a Senate hearing on Special Counsel John Durham's report and findings that the FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law" when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation.
Durham's more than 300-page report was released Monday afternoon after his years-long investigation into the FBI probe, known as "Crossfire Hurricane." The report said senior FBI personnel used "raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence" as justification to investigate former President Donald Trump and that the investigation relied on leads "provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's opponents."
The special counsel did not recommend any new charges against individuals or "wholesale changes" to current FBI guidance and polices. However, Durham did say there is a "continuing need for the FBI and the Department to recognize that lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an over-willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents caused investigators to fail to adequately consider alternative hypotheses and to act without appropriate objectivity or restraint."
In a statement, Graham said the Durham Report is a "damning indictment" of the FBI's conduct under former Director James Comey.
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"Their behavior during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation reads like a page out of the Nixon playbook," Graham said.
Graham, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Durham's findings were consistent with his own determination in 2020 that Crossfire Hurricane was motivated by a "political agenda." He called on Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illl., to "quickly" hold a hearing on the Durham report.
"Not only could the FBI not verify the Steele Dossier – the essential foundation for surveillance warrants – they ignored exculpatory evidence and illegally altered evidence to continue the investigation. The facts confirm that the investigation was launched and continued as part of a political agenda," Graham said.
"Sadly, this report – that shines a bright light on problems at the FBI and DOJ – reinforces the narrative that the Rule of Law in America is subservient to political outcomes. It is a very dangerous development and moment in American history," he continued.
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"Unfortunately, when it comes to the American Left you will not hear about the Durham Report. The American Left celebrates bad actors like these because they had a ‘noble cause’ – taking down a political opponent. It is a case of the ends justifying the means. I hope they will prove me wrong and come out and make clear that the FBI and DOJ violated the constitutional protections of many, including Donald Trump, but I am not holding my breath.
"Finally, my advice to those unfairly maligned by the bogus Crossfire Hurricane investigation would be to hire a good lawyer and sue the hell out of them. Those responsible for Crossfire Hurricane destroyed reputations and lives, all in the name of politics. Someone needs to be held accountable for using the law as a political weapon and ruining innocent peoples’ lives."
