John Durham, the Special Counsel, has recently delivered a report that presents new aspects regarding the FBI’s management of investigations involving Hillary and Bill Clinton.
This long-awaited report contains details about several investigations that were unexpectedly halted right before the 2016 presidential elections. A number of Republicans are now urging for these halted investigations to be resumed.
Although Durham’s comprehensive investigation did not uncover any incriminating evidence against the Clintons or the Clinton Foundation, some Republicans are leveraging this report to scrutinize events that have already undergone exhaustive investigations over the years.
The Clinton Foundation’s spokesperson staunchly refuted any accusations of misconduct, emphasizing that the Durham report in fact substantiates the absence of supportive evidence for these claims. The spokesperson also reminded everyone about prior investigations carried out by the Justice Department during Trump’s presidency and by House Republicans in 2018, which concluded without discovering any wrongdoing.
The report states that the FBI initiated an investigation in 2014 after a covert informant suggested possible unlawful donations from two foreign governments to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, allegedly in return for special benefits.
This informant substantiated their claims with evidence of an illicit $2,700 donation, purportedly leading to a larger contribution. The report discloses that in 2016, three FBI field offices – in Washington, DC, Little Rock, Arkansas, and New York – embarked on investigating potential illegal operations associated with the Clinton Foundation.
Though these investigations made some progress, they were abruptly stopped by high-ranking officials, as indicated in Durham’s report. This information has reignited calls from current and former Republicans for a review of the alleged criminal actions tied to the Clintons.
Matt Gaetz, a Republican Representative from Florida and member of the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee responsible for investigating political bias in the FBI, expressed his apprehensions about the Clintons. Gaetz proposed that there might be individuals in the FBI intent on protecting the Clintons from criminal charges. Similarly, Jason Chaffetz, a former Republican congressman who once chaired the House Oversight Committee, castigated the FBI for its alleged negligence and called for the Clinton investigations to be reinstated.
The extensive 316-page report, presented to Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 12, offered detailed insights about the FBI’s investigations into the Clintons. It underscored a distinct difference between the exhaustive investigation into Trump’s supposed affiliations with Russia conducted by the FBI and Justice Department, and their seemingly lax approach towards the Clinton investigations.
The report scrutinized a January 2016 discovery by the Little Rock Field Office, indicating a federal public official might have received large-scale donations in exchange for governmental favors via a nonprofit they managed. Furthermore, the report referred to sources claiming foreign governments sought special treatment from Clinton by making contributions to the Clinton Foundation.
