FBI lacked ‘precise proof’ to start probing potential hyperlinks between Trump and Russia, report finds

The FBI lacked any “actual evidence” to start investigating potential hyperlinks between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign and Russia, a report has concluded.

US Special Counsel John Durham’s probe additionally discovered the bureau had relied too closely on ideas offered by the previous president’s political opponents earlier than it launched its early stage “Crossfire Hurricane” inquiry.

Mr Trump, who will probably use the findings as political fodder as he goals to hunt re-election in 2024, wrote on his Truth Social platform: “WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe! 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!”

The report marks the tip of a four-year probe launched in May 2019 when then Attorney General William Barr appointed Mr Durham to analyze potential missteps by the FBI when it launched Crossfire Hurricane.

That investigation would later be handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 concluded there was no proof of a prison conspiracy between Mr Trump’s marketing campaign and Moscow.

In his new 306-page report, Mr Durham concluded that US intelligence and legislation enforcement didn’t possess any “actual
evidence” of collusion between Mr Trump’s marketing campaign and Russia previous to launching Crossfire Hurricane.

The report criticised the FBI for opening a full-fledged investigation primarily based on “raw, unanalysed and uncorroborated intelligence,” saying the velocity at which it did so was a departure from the norm.

It additionally stated investigators repeatedly relied on “confirmation bias”, ignoring or rationalising away proof that undercut their premise of a Trump-Russia conspiracy as they pushed the probe ahead.

He additionally accused the bureau of treating the 2016 Trump probe in another way from different politically delicate investigations,
together with a number of involving the previous president’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

For occasion, he stated Mrs Clinton and different officers obtained defensive briefings about being the potential targets of overseas interference, whereas Mr Trump obtained no such briefing earlier than the FBI opened probes into 4 members of his marketing campaign.

In response to the report, the FBI stated it has already carried out dozens of corrective actions which have been in place
for a while.

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Mr Durham’s report was launched to Congress on Monday with out redactions after it was delivered to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday.

House Judiciary Committee Republican Chair Jim Jordan stated on Twitter he has invited Mr Durham to testify about his report subsequent week.

The report comes as Mr Trump is planning to run for re-election in 2024 regardless of facing criminal charges in New York.

Meanwhile, two federal investigations by Special Counsel Jack Smith are wanting each at Mr Trump’s retention of labeled information and his function in efforts to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump had hoped Mr Durham would launch his report forward of the 2020 election, in what he thought can be a blow to President Joe Biden’s marketing campaign.