Staff Reports
The long-awaited moment of truth is finally coming to Capitol Hill as special counsel John Durham testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday and the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. This marks the lawmakers’ first significant opportunity to inquire about the “Russian collusion” hoax and subsequent Crossfire Hurricane probe, in light of Durham’s scathing report that exposed the FBI’s mishandling of the matter.
Turley Previews This Week's 'Enormously Important' Durham Hearings https://t.co/GImDntNXN4
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 19, 2023
Durham’s investigation culminated in a 306-page report released on May 15, which shed light on the FBI’s serious deficiencies and failure to uphold their crucial responsibility of strict fidelity to the law. Among other discoveries, Durham found that the investigation should have never even been opened, and that it was led by politically motivated actors, like former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who were driven by their own biases and ideologies.
While Durham’s report provided a damning indictment of the FBI and the Department of Justice, the Biden administration has shown no interest in pursuing accountability or implementing reforms. Legal scholar and law professor Jonathan Turley believes that Congress must apply the necessary outside pressure to prevent the continuation of these alarming practices that have caused a deep public mistrust of the FBI and the Department of Justice.
The upcoming Durham hearings present an “enormously important” opportunity to question the special counsel and gather more information on how and why these issues arose. Turley rightly points out that greater transparency is crucial, especially given the FBI’s reluctance to disclose even single documents to Congress. The American people deserve to see impartiality restored to these important institutions, and Congress must take a firm stance to ensure this happens.
The FBI and the Department of Justice have repeatedly promised to reform themselves, but as Turley notes, this pattern seems to repeat year after year, with no real changes being implemented. Ultimately, it will be Congress to bring about the necessary reforms to restore public trust in these vital departments.
