Special Counsel John Durham has filed his final report into the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion after three years of investigations.
The damning conclusion was that the FBI did not have enough credible evidence to begin probing the ties between the former president’s campaign and the Kremlin in the run-up to the election.
He condemned the discredited dossier compiled by former MI5 spy Christopher Steele, the handling of the allegations and made links to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Durham, 73, was appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr, who summed up that no “overall changes” needed to be made as a result of his report.
But it has led to serious questions for the FBI – facing growing accusations it is political – and the intelligence community.
He said the office “has failed in its important mission of strict fidelity to the law.”
True the full report BELOW and the timeline that extends to the Mueller investigation below.
May 17, 2017 – Then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as special counsel. Among other things, Mueller is tasked with investigating “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with” Trump’s presidential campaign.
January 15, 2019 – Bill Barr first hinted at what would become the Durham Inquiry during his Senate confirmation hearing. He promised then-President of the Judiciary Lindsey Graham that he would look into the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation against Donald Trump.
March 22, 2019 – Mueller has closed his special investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and submitted his final report to Barr.
March 24, 2019 – Attorney General Barr released his summary of the report.
March 25, 2019 – Barr met with Connecticut Attorney General John Durham. Justice Department records show the two had 18 additional meetings and three calls that year.
Bill Barr (pictured in 2022) first hinted at what would become the Durham investigation during his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2019. He promised then Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham that he would look into the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation against Donald Trump.
April 10, 2019 – Barr testified before a Senate Appropriations Committee where he announced a review of “the genesis and conduct of intelligence activities directed against the Trump campaign in 2016.”
April 12, 2019 – A senior Barr official spoke with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz to explain what appeared to be the start of Durham’s investigation.
May 13, 2019 – It became public knowledge that Barr brought in Durham to investigate issues surrounding the origins of the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation.
May 23, 2019 – Trump said Barr asked him to ask intelligence officials to cooperate with the 2016 election surveillance investigation. ‘Trump allowed Barr to declassify and downgrade information related to the probe.
July 25, 2019 – Trump held his infamous phone call with Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky, revealing that Trump may have referenced the Durham investigation when he asked for help from Kiev and insisted that Zelensky speak with Barr and Rudy Giuliani.
October 19, 2019 – Two articles came out indicating that Durham interviewed two dozen FBI officials.
October 24, 2019 – The New York Times announced that the Durham Inquiry was now a criminal investigation.
December 2019 – Durham was revealed to be examining the role of Obama-era CIA director John Brennan in how the intelligence community assessed Russian election interference in 2016.
April 2020 – Durham’s investigation continued despite the pandemic.
April 10, 2020 – Barr said “Durham’s primary focus…seeks to bring people who engage in abuse to justice if it can prove that they were criminal violations.”
April 24, 2020 – Probe turned to examining leaks within the Trump administration that caused chaos in his early years.
May 18, 2020 – Barr told a news conference that neither Obama nor Biden were at the center of Durham’s criminal investigation.
September 2021 – Durham has issued a new series of subpoenas, including to a law firm closely linked to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
In February 2022, documents filed in Durham revealed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was paid to have the Trump Tower and White House servers hacked in order to “fabricate” links between Trump and Russia.
September 17, 2021 – Cybersecurity attorney Michael Sussmann has pleaded not guilty in federal court. He was charged with lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting in which he shared information relating to ties between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa bank. He said he did not work for a client but was hired by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.
November 2021 – Durham accused Russian-born analyst Igor Danchenko of lying to the FBI by fabricating a source for the Steele dossier. He pleaded not guilty to five counts of making a false statement to a federal agent.
February 11, 2022 – The Durham dossier reveals that Clinton paid to have the Trump Tower and White House servers hacked in order to “manufacture” links between Trump and Russia.
February 2022 – Trump-era Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe reveals Durham believes there is “enough evidence” to charge “several more people”. He also said Obama and Biden had been briefed on the Clinton revelations in 2016.
May 2022 – The jury finds Sussmann not guilty of lying to the FBI about his misrepresentation when he provided debunked allegations of a secret channel between Trump and the Kremlin-linked Alfa Bank.
October 2022 — Danchenko is acquitted of four counts of lying to the FBI after providing most of the research on the discredited Steele dossier.
May 2023 – John Durham concludes in his final report that the FBI did not have enough credible evidence to launch the full Trump-Russia investigation.
Special Counsel John Durham has filed his final report into the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion after three years of investigations
