Democrats and Republicans share views on Durham’s findings post-congressional hearing.

Special counsel John Durham’s review of the FBI’s investigation into Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has sparked opposing conclusions from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

In his 306-page report, Durham highlighted that the FBI rushed to open the initial investigation based on unvetted intelligence and displayed a lack of accuracy and completeness. This has led Republicans to argue that the FBI and DOJ undermined Trump’s candidacy and presidency, calling for reform.

However, Democrats have pointed to the lack of successful prosecutions by Durham as evidence that the FBI and DOJ did not improperly investigate the Trump campaign.

Durham’s Cases

During his investigation, Durham secured a guilty plea from FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who admitted to falsifying information to extend a surveillance warrant against Carter Page, a member of Trump’s campaign team.

However, Durham faced challenges when prosecuting Michael Sussman and Igor Danchenko, with both individuals being acquitted by juries. This has led some Democrats to question Durham’s credibility.

Despite the lack of convictions, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa argued that securing convictions for false statements is difficult. He praised Durham’s detailed assertions and suggested that wrongdoing may not always be easily indictable or convictable.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz took a different stance, accusing Durham of engaging in a cover-up and failing to thoroughly investigate potential charges. Gaetz specifically mentioned the need to charge former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and investigate allegations of data wiping by Robert Mueller’s team.

Durham clarified that he was not tasked with investigating the data wiping allegations and was unaware of them.

Other Findings

In his report, Durham stated that there was enough evidence in certain cases to suggest that government actors negligently violated civil rights, although not intentionally.

Overall, the conclusions drawn from Durham’s review continue to fuel the debate between Democrats and Republicans regarding the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s campaign.