Durham to Publicly Testify to Congress on Report Revealing FBI Missteps

Special counsel John Durham will appear before Congress for two hearings in June after he released a devastating report this month revealing the FBI wrongly opened its investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion.

Durham will testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on June 21 at 9:00 a.m. and will also appear before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence the day before, but behind closed doors, according to committee spokesmen.

Durham is expected to discuss the recently published report, which revealed how the FBI failed to uphold certain standards during the high-profile Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

The investigation, which was promoted heavily by Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Rep. Adam Schiff (CA), was based on now-debunked allegations that the Trump campaign was working with Russian political operatives during the 2016 presidential election.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year probe into the matter found no evidence of such collusion, despite Democrats continually insisting there was evidence “in plain sight.”

A December 2019 report from Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed “significant inaccuracies and omissions” surrounding the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation and how the bureau used the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process to improperly spy on Trump campaign official Carter Page.

Durham’s report expanded on Horowitz’s findings while also revealing new testimony and evidence of additional Crossfire Hurricane failings.

Many Republicans, such as Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who will now get to publicly question Durham on the report, have long argued that the FBI’s initial probe was politically-motivated and launched without proper predicate.

Although it is unlikely that Durham will appear before the Democrat-controlled Senate for a hearing, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are also pursuing their own questions on the matter. The pair recently sent a letter to Durham asking why certain former FBI officials did not cooperate with his investigation.

Republicans in the House are expected to raise this question during the hearing and others, such as why Durham chose not to prosecute key former FBI officials like James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok.