Even More Questions About the Durham Investigation

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.lawfareblog.com/even-more-questions-about-durham-investigation


In July, Jack Goldsmith and I published an analysis of U.S. Attorney John Durham’s ongoing probe of the government investigators responsible for examining Trump-Russia related matters before and after the 2016 election. Then, we concluded that a federal prosecutor was not the appropriate institutional actor for the inquiry as it developed, and that President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr have damaged the investigation’s credibility through their public commentary about it.

Since then, there have been some developments. On Aug. 19, Durham secured a guilty plea from former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who doctored an email that the government relied on in its fourth and final warrant application to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. (The existence of the altered email had been known since Nov. 2019, when CNN first broke the story that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz had turned it over to Durham.) On Sept. 9, when Barr was asked if Durham is nearing the end of the investigation, he replied: “I’m not going to characterize exactly where he is.” Barr also said that there could be further criminal charges. And most recently, the Hartford Courant reported that Nora Dannehy, a top Durham aide and highly regarded federal prosecutor, had resigned from the Department of Justice “at least partly out of concern that the [Durham] investigative team is being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done.”

Much remains unknown about Durham’s work. But two new sources of information—the fifth volume of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt’s new book “Donald Trump v. the United States”—raise even more questions about the investigation.

Durham’s Investigation of Then FBI Director Comey in 2017

Schmidt reports in his book that around March 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions tapped Durham—then an assistant United States attorney in Connecticut—to open a leak investigation into FBI Director James Comey following reporting by the New York Times that Comey had asked the Justice Department to refute Trump’s baseless allegations that former President Barack Obama had ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower. The investigation reported directly to Sessions. Schmidt adds that Durham’s investigation “unnerved career officials in the deputy attorney general’s office,” which is generally responsible for the department’s day-to-day operations and normally would have overseen an investigation like Durham’s.

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[NCjack]

1. Because of Barr and Trump interference, the John Durham report will not

be credible. Now, Durham is boxed. If he resigns, he loses control of the final edit of his report and will be sued by those slandered in his report.

[ScratchCat]

3. I'm guessing

With the #2 prosecutor resigning, she either discussed it at lengths with Durham and he's next, or she believes Durham is compromised. I can't fathom another possibility.

[NCjack]

4. He may be compromised. But, if not, he's in a Barr trap. Whatever he does,

he can kiss that nice reputation of his goodbye.

[maxsolomon]

2. I'm not sure this is an effective tactic anymore:

Nora Dannehy, a top Durham aide and highly regarded federal prosecutor, had resigned from the Department of Justice “at least partly out of concern that the [Durham] investigative team is being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done.”

So, you quit rather than participate in a politicized investigation. That's great, but the politicized investigation now has 1 less obstacle in its way.

[Demsrule86]

5. Nope, it causes doubts about the validity of the investigation.

[maxsolomon]

6. Of Durham's or the FBI's?

The entire purpose of Durham's investigation is to cast doubt on the FBI's. That's already been accomplished; in fact the FBI's has been summarily dismissed.

Her principled action will be lost in the din of horseshit coming out of the WH, the DOJ, and the RWNM.

[Demsrule86]

7. Durham's investigation is bullshit...and the attorney resigning shows this clearly.