Official portrait.
The final report from special prosecutor John Durham's investigation into the FBI's probe of alleged connections between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election has been released, NBC reported Monday.
After four years of delving into the FBI's investigation – which resulted a single conviction for lying to the FBI – Durham's findings were critical of the bureau's handling.
"Facts and circumstances that were inconsistent with the premise that Trump and/or associated with the Trump campaign were involved in a collusive or conspiratorial relationship with the Russian government were ignored or simply assessed away," said Durham's report. The special prosecutor was appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr.
He accused the FBI of a “lack of analytical rigor" and said that the bureau acted hastily and on "uncorroborated, raw information."
NBC reporter Ken Dilanian pointed out that Durham's findings contradict those of a 2019 Justice Department Inspector General report that was issued under Donald Trump's administration.
The Department of Justice "also looked into all of these events and interviewed a lot of these people, and concluded that the FBI was justified in opening that investigation," reported Dilanian. "And also that those decisions were free of any political bias."
The ordeal began when Trump campaign aide and foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that the Russians told the Trump campaign they could leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton.
IN OTHER NEWS: Connecticut high court nominee regrets support for Amy Coney Barrett
Ultimately, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller investigated and found that there were numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russians, but there was insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy. Due to a Justice Department policy, there was no investigation directly into Trump.
Durham was unable to reveal a deep state conspiracy, as Donald Trump had previously indicated he would find.
Watch the video below or at this link.
John Durham conflicts with 2019 inspector general report www.youtube.com
Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.
For customer support contact support@rawstory.com.
