Washington, D.C. – Rep. Mike Turner, the chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, shared his perspective on the upcoming closed-door testimony by Special Counsel John Durham during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper. The discussion focused on Turner’s intentions for the committee and what he hopes to learn from Durham’s testimony.
Tapper highlighted that the Intelligence Committee is scheduled to hear testimony from Durham, who was appointed by former President Trump. Tapper referenced Durham’s report, which concluded that the FBI should not have initiated a full-scale investigation into Trump-Russia collusion, suggesting that a preliminary inquiry would have been sufficient. Tapper sought Turner’s perspective on what he wants to uncover from Durham.
Responding to Tapper’s question, Turner expressed his deep concern over the findings of the Durham report. He emphasized that multiple investigations, including Durham’s, have conclusively stated that the allegations of Trump-Russia collusion were baseless and fueled by political bias. Turner highlighted that the investigation originated from uncorroborated research funded by the Clinton campaign, which ultimately proved to be false.
“When your government is lying to you, when your government is telling you that something has happened that has not happened, that’s when our committee has to be involved, and that’s when we have to look at what happened here, how do we make certain this doesn’t happen again,” Turner explained, underscoring the importance of understanding the truth and ensuring the integrity of future investigations.
As the House Select Committee on Intelligence prepares for Durham’s closed-door testimony, the focus remains on unraveling the events surrounding the Trump-Russia investigation and shedding light on potential political bias and misinformation. The committee’s efforts aim to uphold transparency, restore public trust, and safeguard the integrity of future government investigations.
Durham’s final report said the FBI used “uncorroborated intelligence” in its Crossfire Hurricane investigation of alleged collusion between former President Donald Trump and Russia ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
“Our investigation determined that the Crossfire Hurricane investigators did not and could not corroborate any of the substantive allegations contained in the Steele reporting,” the Durham report reads.
The Steele Dossier, an opposition research document funded by Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign, played a major role in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. It has since been discredited. Likewise, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Trump-Russia allegations found no collusion between Trump and the Russians.
