Special counsel John Durham released his final report on Monday in which he casts doubt about the FBI’s decision to launch a full investigation into connections between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
The 300-plus page report sharply criticizes the FBI and Justice Department throughout but does not recommend any new charges against individuals or any “wholesale changes” to the way politically sensitive investigations are handled.
The report does not ultimately fulfill the expectations set by former President Trump and his allies who have long claimed that it would prove the FBI’s investigation was nothing more than a political witch hunt.
Here are takeaways from the special counsel’s report:
The special counsel’s office “conducted more than 480 interviews,” and “obtained and reviewed more than one million documents consisting of more than six million pages,” while also issuing 190 grand jury subpoenas, according to the report.
The Durham report, however, relies on many public findings – including problems with the investigation that were detailed in a 2019 investigation by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz – to question the bureau’s decision to open a full investigation, one the watchdog found to be legal and unbiased.
And while Durham acknowledges the FBI did have reason to open a preliminary review or investigation, he accuses the bureau of failing to uphold its “important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report.”
A preliminary investigation requires a lower threshold to open than a full investigation, and for that reason also means the agents can’t use more invasive tools like FISA surveillance warrants.
Durham concluded that federal investigators did not have “any…
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