Republicans to Grill Durham on Special Counsel Report, Make Case that FBI ‘Hasn’t Changed’

Former special counsel John Durham will publicly testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday about the report he released in May detailing FBI missteps in its Trump-Russia collusion probe.

House Judiciary Committee Republicans are expected to commend Durham for the report while making the case that problems uncovered in it, especially surrounding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), continue to plague the bureau.

“For me the real takeaway is I don’t think anything at the FBI has changed,” committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Breitbart News.

The chairman reiterated that his aim in rehashing the issues with the Trump-Russia probe, known as Crossfire Hurricane, is in part to strip FISA of section 702, a controversial provision regarding government spying powers that is up for reauthorization this year.

“You show [FBI issues] with greater detail, greater color, and some new information about what we all knew, and then you say, ‘And guess what? It’s still happening. Nothing’s changed,’” Jordan said.

The committee’s preparations for the hearing, at least from the GOP side, have been unusually heavy, consisting of numerous meetings and a mock hearing on Tuesday, one source familiar with the schedule told Breitbart News.

The hearing will follow Durham appearing behind closed doors with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday.

Intel Committee chairman Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said in a press conference that while rules dictate that he could not reveal specific contents of his committee’s meeting, which took place in a SCIF, Durham had agreed to come to discuss “lessons learned” and existing issues.

“It was interesting to hear from Mr. Durham that he has concerns that there are reforms that need to go into place and that there are still issues that need to be addressed,” Turner said.

Durham’s report concluded that in Crossfire Hurricane, “the Department [of Justice] and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities,” but the report focused little on suggested reforms.

Asked specifically about FISA reforms, Turner, who is far more sympathetic to the 702 provision than Jordan, conceded, “I don’t think anybody on our committee is completely satisfied with the performance that the FBI has undertaken.”

Turner however noted in a slight against Jordan’s committee that he was “glad” that Intel was able to question Durham first.

“I am glad that we went first because I think that having Mr. Durham in this environment allowed him to be very forthcoming and very sharing of what his thoughts and ideas are,” Turner said.

He added, “Certainly tomorrow has a different purpose. But I do think that he was very comfortable, at this point, with the commitment that our members had on a bipartisan professional basis to deal with his work, to share with us.”