US special counsel criticizes FBI's Trump-Russia probe

The FBI investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign lacked "actual evidence" and was seriously flawed, independent US counsel John Durham said in a report published Monday.

The roughly 300-page report marks the end of a four-year probe launched in May 2019. Then-Attorney General William Barr had appointed Durham, a veteran prosecutor, to probe potential missteps by the FBI.

At the time, the FBI had just launched the early stage of its "Crossfire Hurricane" inquiry into potential contacts between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

That Crossfire Hurricane investigation would later be handed over to special counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 concluded there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.

FBI under heavy criticism

Durham was highly critical of the origins of the FBI's probe.

"Neither US law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," his report said.

Durham also said that "senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor toward the information that they received, especially information from politically-affiliated persons and entities."

This led investigators to "act without appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a US political campaign and a foreign power," he said.

In response to the report, the FBI said it has already implemented dozens of corrective actions that have been in place for some time.

Durham highlights double standard

Durham, a former federal prosecutor, said the FBI and Justice Department had displayed a double standard in the manner in which they investigated Trump and his 2016 rival for the White House, Democrat Hillary Clinton.   

"The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign," the report said.

Durham also said Clinton and other officials received defensive briefings about being the possible targets of foreign interference, whereas Trump received no such briefing before the FBI opened probes into four members of his campaign.

Trump welcomes report

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, welcomed the Durham report in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe!" Trump said.

"In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don't want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!" he added, apparently referring to the multiple ongoing criminal investigations targeting him.

dh/fb (AFP, Reuters)