Trump embarks on ‘treacherous charade’ of Russian collusion investigation – and calls on Hillary, James Comey and Democrats to ‘pay a heavy price’ for Durham report which sparked ‘public anger’ at a ‘ level that I have not seen”
- Trump says Democrats must be held accountable for their misrepresentations
- FBI should never have investigated alleged Russian collusion, says new report
- A leading Republican has hit out at award-winning journalists who won top gongs for their work on the collusion story
Donald Trump has blasted former FBI director James Comey after a new report concluded his investigation into alleged Russian collusion should never have been opened.
The former president, who has long called the investigation a “witch hunt,” said in an interview with Fox News Digital that those officials should be held accountable.
“I, and much more importantly, the American public at the time, were victims of this longstanding charade and betrayal launched by the Democrats – launched by Comey,” the 76-year-old real estate mogul said. .
“Public anger over this report is at a level I have never seen before…there must be a heavy price to pay for putting this to our country,” he added.
Trump’s political opponents have claimed for years that he colluded with Vladimir Putin to interfere in the 2016 election
Trump, who is the overwhelming front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, then hit out at the FBI again on his Truth Social platform.
‘WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes that the FBI should never have launched the Trump-Russia investigation!’ said Trump.
“In other words, the American public has been scammed, just as they are being scammed right now by those who don’t want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!” he added.
Special Counsel John Durham’s report, released earlier on Monday, found the Justice Department and FBI “failed to live up to their mission of strict loyalty to the law.”
It comes after his years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI’s original investigation, known as the “Crossfire Hurricane”.
Investigators were investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Durham’s task, according to an order from then-Attorney General Barr, was to investigate the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, which was launched in July 2016, as well as the subsequent investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller launched in May 201.
But the special counsel said senior FBI officials showed “a serious lack of analytical rigor” and a “significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by political opponents of Trump.”
In a statement, the FBI said the bureau’s current leadership has implemented dozens of corrective measures.
“Had these reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been avoided,” the FBI said in a statement.
Trump repeated Russian collusion claims as a ‘hoax’ and ‘witch hunt’
Special Counsel John Durham has been investigating the FBI investigation for four years
Durham’s investigation led to the indictment of a Russian national and a prominent Washington lawyer for making false statements to the FBI, but both were acquitted.
The Russian, Igor Danchenko, has been accused of providing information for a report containing unverified salacious information about Trump and Russia, known as the “Steele dossier”, compiled by a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele.
On Friday, the special counsel delivered the report on his four-year investigation, which cost more than $6 million in taxpayer dollars, to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The Attorney General then sent a copy to key members of Congress before releasing it to the public.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican lawmaker from South Carolina, used the results to attack the American media.
“The New York Times and Washington Post have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for writing a bunch of politically motivated bullshit,” Graham wrote on Twitter.
“When it comes to reporting on Donald Trump, the mainstream media is dead,” he added.
