Raskin roasts Durham inquiry as 'total flop,' presses Republicans to investigate. Republicans have grown impatient with the probe, while still hoping for a report that will vindicate former President Donald Trumps charge that the original inquiry was a thinly veiled and unfounded political attack. Special counsel John Durham, here in 2018, was tapped by former Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the FBI's investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. The move continues Trumps long-standing practice of appealing for foreign interference in American politics. The bottom two pillars of the Durham triangle, I believe, are the FBI's -- John Durham's indictment of the FBI attorney, which is literally an indictment of the FBI, and now a criminal. Torture Raises New Questions", "Holder Hires Prosecutor to Look Into Alleged CIA Interrogation Abuses", "Investigation of Bush-era Torture Concludes With No Charges", "Holder Rules Out Prosecutions in C.I.A. John Durham report is coming, some people will go to prison Sara Carter Ranking member of the powerful House Intelligence Committee Rep. Devin Nunes told me on The Sara Carter Show podcast that he still expects Justice Department Special Counsel John Durham to release a damaging report on the FBI's debunked investigation into former President Donald Trump and Russia. Well, no. [20] He remains Special Counsel as of January 2023. Along with investigating Connolly, Durhams FBI team gathered evidence regarding a retired agent, H. Paul Rico. An official website of the United States government. He oversaw a task force of FBI agents brought in from other offices to investigate the Boston office's handling of informants. IE 11 is not supported. [34] By September 2022 the costs of his investigation has climbed to $6.5 million since assuming the role of special counsel. A Washington attorney who specializes in cybersecurity issues has been indicted for allegedly lying to the FBI ahead of the 2016 election in a conversation about possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Tapes", "Gina Haspel's Testimony About C.I.A. Prosecutors allege Sussmann lied by denying that he was representing any client as he told the FBI about digital evidence allegedly linking computers in Trump Tower to Russias Alfa Bank. The information was significant because it was included in a series of reports prepared by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who had been hired by an opposition research firm working for the Clinton campaign. Now he works at Starbucks. Most reports show that Durham graduated with honors, but it is unknown exact what his major study was. Durham attended Colgate University, in Hamilton, NY. Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that was used to get surveillance on a former Trump campaign adviser, was sentenced to one year of probation. July 24, 2021 August 7, 2021 Brian Cates Trump Had To Step Aside So The American People Could Be . Unbelievably, Durham now explains that the counterintelligence investigation was closed because the FBI incorrectly believed that [Danchenko] had left the country.. JOHN IRWIN OBITUARY. Yet these prosecutions are secondary to the vital story: What role did the FBI, whether by misfeasance or malfeasance, play in the Clinton campaigns project to paint Trump as a clandestine agent of the Kremlin? Durham was asked to be the special prosecutor for another major corruption case this time involving the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. Durham resigned as U.S. Attorney effective February 28, 2021. Andrew C. McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor. This article was published more than1 year ago. Its significance lies in how evenhandedly his case is treated. President Biden's hands-off approach during the federal investigation into his son is one way he's trying to repair the damage the Trump administration did to the Justice Department. Of that, nearly $1.9 million was directly related to the teams investigation and approximately $471,000 was spent by other parts of the Justice Department in connection to Durhams work. We've received your submission. In all of those cases and myriad other matters, I saw a Justice Department that strove to insulate investigations from political considerations. However, even though the report was intended to remain secret, report Charlie Savage attempted to use FISA in order to see the results of Durhams investigation, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The spending, detailed in documents released Wednesday by the Department of Justice, coincides with an uptick in activity from Durham and his team in recent months. So what happened? Law And Order. WASHINGTON (AP) John Durham, the federal prosecutor tapped to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, has been presenting evidence before a grand jury as part of his probe, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. By 2017, however, Durham was appointed by Donald Trump to become the U.S Attorney for Connecticut. Durham would not recommend any criminal charges be filed. Russiagate special counsel John Durham is in the homestretch. Durhams time prosecuting mafia-related crimes would come in handy when, in 1999, then-Attorney General Janet Reno chose John Durham to investigate whether James Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi, both gangsters turned FBI informants, had been able to corrupt their FBI handlers. However, little else is known about Durhams personal wealth. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Last year, Barr converted Durhams probe into a special counsel investigation under Justice Department regulations. That move effectively took Durham out of the normal Justice Department hierarchy and supervision, although after the Biden administration assumed office, Attorney General Merrick Garland retained the right to overrule any of Durhams major decisions, such as the effort to seek an indictment of Sussmann. Attorneys President Joe Biden asked to resign in February 2021. According to court documents, Sussmann allegedly falsely denied representing the Democratic National Committee or any other client at the time when he reported suspicions about possible links between computers at Trump Tower and a Russian bank. His wife is Susan (no maiden name revealed), and public information shows that he has four sons as well as eight grandchildren with his wife. John Durham Special Counsel Contact Department of Justice Special Counsel's Office 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Room B-103 Washington, D.C. 20530 News Russian National Indicted for Making False Statements to the FBI, November 4, 2021 [18][19], Durham resigned as U.S. Attorney effective February 28, 2021. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, $80K reward offered in manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reportedly in US illegally, NY congresswoman demands FBI investigate threat posed by vegan extremists, Republican senators want feds to explain losing 85,000 migrant kids, FBI searches home of top FTX executive Ryan Salame: report, acquitted Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann. John H. Durham will remain as special counsel even as the Biden administration requests a mass resignation of U.S. attorneys. The firm's political law group represented Clinton's presidential campaign and has long provided counsel to the Democratic National Committee. In staff meetings with the attorney general, no one ever mentioned the political ramifications of any case. In 2019, however, CNN said his apolitical reputation was on the line once then United States Attorney William Barr tapped Durham to head an investigation into the Trump-Russian collusion probe. [19] He stayed on in this capacity after he resigned as U.S. Special counsel to review origins of Trump-Russia investigation, Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, the 2005 destruction of interrogation tapes, Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (2019), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (20202021), "John Durham Named Interim U.S. Attorney; Presidential Nomination Expected", "Prosecutor Who Unraveled Corruption in Boston Turns to C.I.A. All rights reserved. It led to unprecedented letters signed by former department officials calling for the resignation of former Attorney General William Barr. I signed one of those letters. From his Russia, if youre listening remark about finding Hillary Clintons missing emails to his repeatedly asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to announce an investigation into Hunter Biden in return for military aid, Trump has always shown his appetite for using investigations as political weapons. Durhams investigation suffered a significant setback in the spring when a Washington, DC, jury acquitted Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann. A spokesperson for Garland did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his role in the case. The collusion accusations were part of the basis for a number of FISA warrants which allowed government entities to gather intelligence on the Trump family and its organization. It is likely he was paid well for these special assignments. The Department of Justice would ordinarily never bring such a baseless case.". 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This story has been shared 139,238 times. [14], From 2008 to 2012, Durham served as the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor who had worked at a law firm with longstanding links to the Democratic Party, is the second individual to be charged in special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe. Russian National Indicted for Making False Statements to the FBI, Grand Jury Indicts D.C. Attorney with Making False Statements to the FBI in 2016 Regarding Alleged Communications Between Trump Organization and Russian Bank. Sussmann said he didn't have a specific request for the FBI; he just wanted the bureau to be aware of the information. On October 19, 2020, John Durham was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to serve as the Special Counsel by the order below. Copyright 2010-2021 This Nation. The indictment alleges that Sussmann "lied about the capacity in which he was providing the allegations to the FBI.". That alleged lie mattered, the indictment says, because it misled the FBI and deprived it of "information that might have permitted it more fully to assess and uncover the origins of the relevant data and technical analysis, including the identities and motivations of Sussmann's clients. The New York Times reported on Wednesday night that John Durham has informed the Department of Justice he will ask a grand jury to indict Michael Sussmann over his making a false statement to. For now, we have to hope that Durhams final report will answer that question. Danchenko turns out to have been Steeles principal source for this fever dream. Sussmann also tried to deliver similar material to another undisclosed agency in December 2016, after Trump had won the election. Wheres Durham? Trump wrote in a statement emailed to reporters last month. Therefore, many details regarding his early life are unknown. It also details meetings that Sussmann had with a partner at his law firm who was general counsel to the Clinton campaign as well as a tech executive who was a client of Sussmann's and researchers about purported links between Trump Organization computer systems and a Russian bank. Danchenko was charged with five felony counts of making false statements to the FBI. Clinesmithwas sentenced in January to probation. [7][8] Barr disclosed in December 2020 that he had elevated Durham's status to special counsel in October 2020, ensuring that the Durham special counsel investigation could continue after the Trump administration ended. Washington, D.C. 20530, Russian National Indicted for Making False Statements to the FBI, November 4, 2021, Grand Jury Indicts D.C. Attorney with Making False Statements to the FBI in 2016 Regarding Alleged Communications Between Trump Organization and Russian Bank, September 16, 2021, U.S. Department of Justice Paul Bedard | March 06, 2023 11:26 AM. ", "The Special Counsel appears to be using this indictment to advance a conspiracy theory he has chosen not to actually charge," they said in a statement. Barr later elevated Durham to special counsel status in October 2020. [29] Davis wrote an appeal to former Bush administration officials to take their accounts of illegality directly to Durham. The special prosecutor probing the origins of the federal investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, John Durham, has charged Washington . The Debrief with Hugo Gurdon: Why nobody wants a rematch of Trump and Biden in 2024. The development is a potential sign that Durham may be mulling additional . Sussman billed these meetings to the Clinton campaign, according to the indictment. Special counsel John Durham's inquiry into the origins of the investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign spent close to $3.8 million . According to the indictment, Sussmann provided Baker with two thumb drives and hard copies of the materials, including a document Sussmann had helped write, one written by a researcher and another written by the political research firm working for the Clinton campaign to dig up opposition research about Trump. He has also investigated corruption, and torture techniques utilized on detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Sussmann has committed no crime, defense attorneys Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth said in the statement. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Throughout Durhams career, he has worked in both state and federal government. This enterprise included substantial reliance by the FBI on the bogus Steele dossier in obtaining spying authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on sworn representations that the bureau believed Trump was in a conspiracy of cooperation with Vladimir Putins anti-American regime. The special counsel designation provides an additional degree of insulation from the regular DOJ apparatus. John Durham News Current Page: 1 . Last year, Durham indicted him on five counts of lying to the FBI. and last updated 2021-09-27 20:28:55-04. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty; an attorney representing him when he was charged has asserted Danchenkos work as a researcher is above reproach and that people with an agenda were seeking to tarnish his reputation. Durham loses again in court, but trial airs FBI flaws, Jury gets Danchenko case in what may be Durham's swan song, Judge dismisses 1 of 5 counts against Trump dossier source, Durham presents new evidence on day 2 of Danchenko trial, Sussmann acquitted on charge brought by special counsel Durham, Jury sees conflicting evidence on Michael Sussmann's role at FBI Trump-Russia meeting, Jurors hear contrasting stories about FBI handling of Trump-Russia secret server claims, Clinton 2016 campaign manager denies approving passing anti-Trump info to FBI. Sussmann worked on cybersecurity and privacy issues at the law firm Perkins Coie. After all, Danchenko, like Sussmann, is charged with lying to the FBI, and a jury may once again be left to wonder whether the bureau was actually fooled. John Durham is a native of Boston, MA. ", Sussmann's attorneys, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, said their client will "fight this baseless and politically-inspired prosecution. [12], Following those five years as a state prosecutor, Durham became a federal prosecutor, joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. Muellers prosecutors charged 34 people, including 26 Russian nationals. [14] In 2002, Durham helped secure the conviction of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal racketeering charges for protecting Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution and warning Bulger to flee just before the gangster's 1995 indictment. Although Danchenko was the most important source for Steeles explosive allegations against Trump, the FBI did not interview him prior to using Steeles dossier in its first two sworn surveillance applications, in October 2016 and January 2017. Attorney. Bill Hennessy CNN Special counsel John Durham gave a glimpse on Wednesday of his extensive use of a federal grand jury to. WASHINGTON John H. Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation, has told the Justice Department that he will ask a grand jury to. To date, Garland has said little about the level of DOJs oversight into Durhams activities, other than to say they are following the Justice Departments rules regarding special counsels. Room B-103 seeks resignations of Trump-era US attorneys", "What Is a Special Counsel and What Can They Do? Less than a month after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released publicly in March 2019, Barr announced that he had assigned John Durhamthe U.S. Attorney for the District of . was arrested Thursday in Northern Virginia onan indictment that special counsel John Durham obtained charging the Russian-born researcher with five felony counts of . And under questioning from Democratic staff, Baker added that he wouldnt have viewed the information differently had he been aware of Sussmanns link to the campaign. Sussmanns lawyers also contend that he never made such a statement, that the evidence in the case is weak and that theres no sign the alleged falsehood affected the FBIs work. Updated: 09/16/2021 09:15 PM EDT. The special prosecutor probing the origins of the federal investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, John Durham, has charged Washington lawyer Michael Sussmann with lying to the FBI during the early stages of the inquiry. He was born on March 16, 1950. A lock ( . [14], In 2008, Durham led an inquiry into allegations that FBI agents and Boston Police had ties with the Mafia. John Durham has a stellar reputation for investigating corruption. Clinesmiths alterations, Durham charged, obscured Pages prior relationship with the CIA. We now know that the so-called dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was a Clinton campaign production. [39][40], According to CNN, Durham is "press-shy" and is known for his tendency to avoid the media. 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Whether Trump likes it or not, the Hunter Biden investigation is proceeding as it should mostly in silence. The spending, detailed in documents released Wednesday by the Department of Justice, coincides with an uptick in activity from Durham in recent months. ", "U.S. launches criminal probe into CIA tapes", "Veteran prosecutor takes over CIA probe", "No Criminal Charges Sought Over C.I.A. [21][20], Amid allegations that FBI informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi had corrupted their handlers, US Attorney General Janet Reno named Durham special prosecutor in 1999. The indictment says the DNC retained Sussmann in April 2016 to represent it in connection with Russia's hacking of DNC servers, and Sussmann also advised the Clinton campaign on cybersecurity issues. In April 2019, Attorney General William Barr announced that he had launched a review of the origins of the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections[32][33] and it was reported in May that he had assigned Durham to lead it several weeks earlier. Official websites use .gov 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Associated Press; Getty Images Special counsel John Durham filed a new indictment in his investigation into the FBI's Russia probe.. 10/12/2022 02:24 PM EDT. Barr gave him the special counsel designation in October 2020 signing an order that protected the investigation from any potential change in political leadership and required the submission of a final report that could be made public. Updated 10/12/2022 09:11 PM EDT. Sussmanns meeting with Baker had already been a subject of intense interest to Republicans on Capitol Hill, who grilled Baker about it during closed-door testimony in October 2018 during their own probe of the origins of the FBIs Trump-Russia investigation. Special counsel John Durham, here in 2018, was tapped by former Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the FBI's investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. However, during the Trump era, not only did the president frequently publicly pronounce his views on prosecutions that involved political cronies, but the Justice Department itself was also riven by overtly politically motivated actions that destroyed morale. Durhams investigation indicates that Danchenko lied to the FBI multiple times, falsehoods that should have been easy for the nations flagship federal investigative agency to run down. U.S. Attorney John Durham, center, outside federal court in New Haven, Connecticut in February 2021 Sussmann's allies believed they found some potentially alarming links from Trump to Russia,. In both trials, Durham alleged the defendants had deceived the FBI, rather than alleging the FBI acted improperly toward Trump. Some former intelligence community officials have said those sorts of judgments were better reviewed by inspectors general of the intelligence agencies and not by a federal prosecutor. Durhams prosecutors presented abundant evidence that Sussmann had falsely told the FBI that he was not working for the Clinton campaign when he peddled spurious information about a supposed Trump-Putin communications back channel. I mean, so I was uncomfortable with being in the position of having too much factual information conveyed to me, because Im not an agent, Baker said. Any prosecution here would be baseless, unprecedented, and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work.. In a statement issued prior to the indictment, Sussmanns lawyers insisted that their client was innocent and they suggested that politics were at work in the decision to charge their client. Bidens administration has obviously focused on trying to repair the departments tattered image. Durham alleged that Sussmann had billed time working on the issue to the Clinton campaign. And so I wanted to get this get the information into the hands of the agents as quickly as possible and let them deal with it. Durham also spent time prosecuting corrupt politicians. There is no indication anything came of this, but upon being tipped off, the bureau did some digging and learned that Danchenko had been in contact with people it was investigating as possible Russian intelligence officers. [25] Durham's final report remains secret but was the subject of an unsuccessful lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act filed by The New York Times reporter Charlie Savage. He was sworn in on February 22, 2018. Durham, along with fifty-six others nominated to similar positions by President Trump, was a part of the shake-up at the request of Joe Biden. He also billed the Clinton campaign for meetings with journalists about the same materials. The administrations effort to recover the Justice Departments integrity is not limited to the Hunter Biden case. At times, he would serve as an interim United States Attorney General. His exact work in this capacity is unknown. A locked padlock This 2018 portrait released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Connecticut's U.S. Attorney John Durham. But the prosecutors curiously portrayed the FBI as the victim of Sussmanns machinations when the proof suggested that the bureau was not fooled at all and seemed more like a willing participant in building the Trump/Russia political narrative. [20] He remains Special Counsel as of January 2023. After in one year in this position, Durham would then move to the Assistant States Attorney position in the New Haven, Connecticut office of the Connecticut States Attorney. By April 2019, U.S. Attorney General William Barr had tasked Durham with overseeing a review of the origins of the Russia investigation and to determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was "lawful and appropriate". Though Durham initially focused on whether law enforcement and intelligence agencies acted inappropriately as they investigated the Trump campaign, the probe in recent months has seemed to zero in on whether people outside of government misled the FBI in an effort to keep attention on exaggerated claims of Trump ties with Russia. Unfortunately, two of the men had died in prison during this time. Americans anxiously await further Durham findings, and experts say that there is much more to come regarding Durhams investigation. Some close to the investigation have said Durham appeared not simply to be seeking out potential crimes, but conducting a broader review of the quality of the intelligence that led the FBI to begin investigating people tied to the Trump campaign.