Former U.S. Attorney John Durham is reportedly close to wrapping up his investigation into the origins of the Russia-collusion hoax and is looking at potential criminal charges for some of the lower-level FBI officials and informants involved, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Durham, whom former Attorney General Bill Barr designated as special counsel last year, is planning to submit a report on his review of the federal government’s investigation into former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign some time this fall.
He planned to submit it earlier this summer, but it was delayed.
So far, Durham’s investigation has brought just one prosecution, that of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who was charged with altering an exculpatory email used in internal discussions over whether to extend the FBI’s surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
But according to Wall Street Journal, Durham is also investigating whether he can bring criminal charges against certain tipsters for knowingly providing false information to the FBI about alleged links between the Trump Organization and the Russian Alfa Bank.
Investigators later found no evidence of a link, and several of the Russian oligarchs connected with the bank have filed their own defamation lawsuit in British court against ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele, the author of the notorious, since-debunked Steele dossier.
Trump has pressed Durham to release the report, arguing the officials behind the “witch hunt” into his campaign needed to be held responsible.
“Where’s Durham?” Trump said in a statement in March. “Is he a living, breathing human being? Will there ever be a Durham report?”
Trump also said he hopes Durham was “doing a great job” and that the investigation would not hold back on releasing sensitive information in “politically correct” deference to the Biden administration.
“They spied on my campaign, which is treason,” Trump said.
“They spied, both before and after I won, using the intelligence apparatus of the United States to take down a president, a legally elected president, a duly elected president of the United States,” he continued. “It is the single biggest political crime in the history of our country.”
