Durham to testify before Congress as calls for high-level prosecutions increase

Special counsel John Durham will testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee on June 21 to discuss his scathing report about the FBI as criticism mounts over the lack of high-profile prosecutions during his sprawling, four-year investigation.

Sources confirmed Friday that Mr. Durham’s appearance before the GOP-led panel will come one day after he testifies in front of the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door hearing.

Lawmakers on both committees are expected to grill Mr. Durham about his probe into the FBI’s decision to plow ahead with a full investigation into what turned out to be fake ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

Mr. Durham will also face questions about his decision not to bring charges against Obama-era FBI officials, including two who were referred to the Justice Department for prosecution.

A Rasmussen poll of likely voters released Friday found that 59% of respondents say FBI officials who promoted claims linking Mr. Trump to Russia should be criminally prosecuted.

The poll surveyed 1,013 likely voters May 21-23, roughly a week after special counsel John Durham released a report outlining the FBI’s failures while pursuing the allegations against Mr. Trump. Mr. Durham did not recommend any new charges beyond his three earlier prosecutions.

High-profile FBI figures greenlighted the Trump investigation based on unverified intelligence and ignored evidence that countered the collusion narrative, according to Mr. Durham’s 300-page report.

The same poll also found that 63% of respondents said Mr. Trump was the target of a Hillary Clinton campaign-orchestrated hit during the 2016 race. Just 30% of respondents disagreed with that statement.

Some Republicans, including Trump allies, have complained that Mr. Durham’s investigation did not result in criminal charges against former FBI Director James B. Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Mr. McCabe and Mr. Comey were both referred for criminal prosecution by the Justice Department inspector general. Federal prosecutors within the Justice Department declined to press charges.

Mr. Comey was referred for criminal prosecution for allegedly leaking classified materials to a friend, who passed on the documents to The New York Times. An inspector general’s investigation found that Mr. McCabe lied to investigators about approving a leak to a media outlet.

Mr. Durham brought three prosecutions but netted only one conviction: a low-level FBI lawyer who admitted doctoring evidence to obtain a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign figure Carter Page.

The other two cases involved alleged false statements to the FBI by a Hillary Clinton campaign attorney and a Russian analyst. Both were acquitted by juries in Washington and shed little new light on the bureau’s decision-making in 2016.

The lack of high-profile prosecutions has left activists and lawmakers frustrated.

“When government officials fail to abide by the boundaries set by the U.S. law and the Constitution, there must be accountability. Those who perpetrated this hoax to the American people must go to jail,” Rep. Daniel Webster, Florida Republican, said in a statement.