URBANNA — Well now. It turned out after all these years, the media’s linking Trump and “Russian Collusion” was false. It is interesting to note of all the media, only Fox News reporters had it right.
Yes, all the wild hype and political attacks against Trump regarding Russian collusion charges were based on fabrications.
Which all goes to prove once again that eventually the truth will come out. And a reminder to us to hear media reports with a measure of doubt and remember our sweet American creed — that we are innocent until proven guilty.
Yet it took millions of dollars to find the truth after the flawed FBI initial investigation known as “Operation Crossfire Hurricane,” shortly followed by the independent counsels Mueller and Durham investigations.
When the Durham Report came out last month I soon tired of hearing differing interpretations — liberal media saying there was nothing to it, conservatives accusing the FBI and other government agencies with bias and corruption…that I decided I would read the report myself and come to my own conclusions.
It was a typical legal document, exact, detailed and footnoted which made tough reading but I made it through the first 80 pages of the 316-page legal document before skipping over 200 pages to read the conclusions of the last 20 pages.
I want to remind readers I am neither a Trump nor Biden fan. They are both “dividers” and this country needs “uniters” if we hope to survive. But justice applies equally to all people whether one likes them or not and email correspondence at FBI indicated agents were biased against Trump.
Such remarks as” We’ll stop him from becoming president,” or he is “Someone who should lose to Clinton by 100,000,000 to 0” or referring to him as “an idiot” and “loathsome” indicates there was little justice for Trump with the FBI.
The investigation Operation Crossfire Hurricane started in 2016 on Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, on a rumor that was reported by an Australian diplomat that he may be involved with Russia for help in the presidential election that November.
This “evidence” was never corroborated, analyzed or even compared to earlier FBI standards of what should trigger a full investigation. (For example, Durham learned rumors that Clinton was getting foreign campaign contributions in 2015 did not trigger an FBI investigation.)
Then came the Steele dossier that also “proved” Trump was guilty of Russian collusion and triggered even more years of hype. The Steele dossier also turned out to be bunk paid for by Trump’s political opponents, and the Mueller investigation found no evidence that Trump was guilty of Russian Collusion.
Attorney General Barr, before he left office in 2021 and declaring the public deserved to know the truth in this matter, appointed another independent counsel, Attorney Durham, to investigate the origins of the fiasco.
Durham interviewed 480 witnesses and read more than 6 million documents obtained from various agencies. What he found was an ultra-partisan FBI at the highest echelon that so despised Trump that they broke policies and rules to try to keep him out of the White House.
Durham lays blame on the FBI for opening the investigation of Crossfire Hurricane in the first place and then seeking application for FISA permission to use electronic surveillance on the Trump campaign and continuing to renew the application even after suspecting the “evidence” was bogus.
The Mueller and Durham reports have triggered calls for reform. New FBI standards call for a policy of integrity, accuracy, and non-partisan objectivity in all future dealings.
From now on the FBI director himself must approve the opening of investigations of a presidential candidate or senior member of a campaign staff.
The FBI can no longer open an investigation into anyone without “articulable factual basis” on evidence that a federal law has been broken or there is a threat to national security.
Since the original evidence used to open Crossfire Hurricane was flawed, continuing steps afterwards in the investigation were flawed. Durham suggests the FBI should create an atmosphere where at every step of an investigation any agent might feel comfortable questioning the validity of earlier steps.
Durham also suggests a nonpartisan attorney (if there is such a thing) should be available to challenge any future applications for FISA surveillance and act as a devil’s advocate for the person on whom the FBI wants to electronically spy. The FBI has the power to ruin an individual’s life and reputation, indeed, send someone to prison, and the agency must have more checks on its power.
My view is the rabid hatred of Trump, indicated in email traffic among agents, the “let’s get him” esprit de corps, contributed to the mistakes that were made. One hopes such unprofessional behavior will cease.
The Durham Report seriously hurt the reputation of the FBI and gives credence to the Republican charge that there is a “dual justice system,” one for Democrats and one for Republicans.
And, if so, I would be curious as to whether it’s still in place working to elect the FBI’s next preferred candidate for president.
© 2023
