Honing in on FBI corruption in the 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation into 76-year-old former President Donald Trump, 59-year-old House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is making progress. Sabotaging Trump’s 2016 for president, 62-year-old former FBI Director James Comey opened up the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin, all based on bereft probable cause, not sufficient to legally for an investigation. Special Counsel John Durham, 72, tasked by Atty. Gen. Bill Barr, to investigate Crossfire Hurricane, gave his 300-page report May 16, concluding that the FBI failed to follow proper procedures in investigating Trump. Durham’s report was devastating news about the Department of Justice and FBI in breaching its own procedures to investigate Trump without sufficient probable cause, a prerequisite for criminal probes.
Durham’s report corroborates a similar finding Dec. 8, 2019 by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz also finding the FBI breached its procedures seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court [FISA] to wiretap former Trump foreign policy aid Carter Page. While Horowitz didn’t find conclusive proof of a political witch-hunt, the DOJ and FBI were rebuked for not following proper procedures for conducting an investigation. Durham’s Report goes a step further that Horowitz in concluding that Former FBI Director James Comey, 62, was asked to respond to Durham’s findings, directly bearing on his legacy as FBI Director during Crossfire Hurricane. “There’s always going to be mistakes,” Comey told Fox News Digital June 1. Until now, Comey denied that anything improper occurred in the Crossfire Hurricane probe.
Durham’s May 16 report was a devastating indictment of the DOJ and FBI under Comey’s leadership. “It doesn’t mean the FBI isn’t competent, honest and independent,” Comey said. “In the main, the FBI did it the right way during a very difficult time in 2016,” referring to his time investigating Trump under Crossfire Hurricane. When former Atty. Gen. Bill Barr said April 11, 2019 that the FBI spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign, Comey said, “I don’t know what the heck he’s talking about,” denying any personal culpability. Jordan, in his oversight capacity on the House Judiciary Committee, wants to know why Comey and others at the FBI were not prosecuted for violating FBI rules about criminal investigations. Jordan noted the “institutional rot that pervades the FBI, seeking to know who currently works at the FBI who participated in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Durham, in his work as Special Counsel, was only able to get one conviction in his four-year probe of Crossfire Hurricane. Only FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith plead guilty to altering a FISA application on Carter Page, deleting the fact that Page worked for the CIA. Former FISA Chief Judge Rosemary Collyer said she would have never granted the FBI a warrant to wiretap had she known Page worked for the CIA. Durham concludes his work knowing that Comey, his deputies, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, FBI Atty. Lisa Page and others were not prosecuted for violating FBI procedures. Howowitz said in his Dec. 8, 2019 report that he couldn’t find that politics drove the Crossfire Hurricane probe, his findings were inconclusive. Jordan knows that no one from the Obama White House, including former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch, ever paid a price for the Crossfire Hurricane probe.
Comey’s June 1 admission that mistakes were made at the highest levels of the FBI stops short of admitting he broke FBI rules. Comey was fired by Trump May 8, 2017, primarily for running a rogue FBI operation. Trump officials knew that Comey leaked fake intel to the New York Times and Washington Post about Crossfire Hurricane. Both papers published numerous front-page stories about Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin, coordinating the stories with 62-year-old former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adama Schiff, who, like Comey, leaked fake intel to the Times and Post. Schiff now runs for Senate in California, never called out for his role in disseminating fake intel to the press about Trump’s ties to the Kremlin. Even after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded March 23, 2019 that there was no wrongdoing, Schiff said he had proof of Trump’s collusion.
Jordan wants to know whether current Special Counsel Jack Smith, 54, relies on information probing Trump’s alleged ties to the Jan. 6 or the Mar-a-Lago classified docs probes. “The FBI’s window dressing is not enough. The Special Counsel’s report serves as a stark reminder of the need for more accountability and reforms within the FBI,” Jordan said. Jordan wants Smith to take into account what crimes the FBI committed under Comey in investigating Trump and his 2016 campaign. “The objective facts show that the FBI’s handling of important aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane matter were seriously deficient,” relying on “raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence,” Durahm said. Jordan’s probe shows that in fact the Comey relied on former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s opposition research AKA the “Steele dossier,” to try to sabotage Trump’s 2016 campaign.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
