William Barr, the attorney general who appointed John Durham to investigate the Russian collusion hoax against former President Donald Trump, clarified that neither President Obama nor Vice President Biden were targeted. In his memoir One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General, Barr praised Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw Mueller’s investigation into Trump. Barr acknowledged Rosenstein’s challenges during a turbulent period but noted his significant contributions to the administration and the country.
Durham’s report, however, barely mentioned Rosenstein, whose “important contributions” were absent from his June 21 testimony. Meanwhile, Durham criticized the FBI for failing to adequately scrutinize collusion claims, applying inconsistent standards to the Clinton and Trump campaigns, and relying on uncorroborated opposition research like the Steele dossier. This continued despite intelligence briefings suggesting a Clinton campaign plan to create a scandal linking Trump to Russia.
Hillary Clinton’s need for such a strategy became evident as early as 2016, when Bernie Sanders gained momentum in early polls. By March 2016, WikiLeaks released over 30,000 emails from Clinton’s private server, sparking speculation about their source. Weeks later, Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, was fatally shot in Washington, D.C. His laptop became the FBI’s focus despite unanswered questions about motive and opportunity.
In July 2016, WikiLeaks published 20,000 emails from DNC computers, some linked to Rich. Clinton blamed Russian interference, claiming “Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC” and “arranged for a lot of those emails to be released.” The FBI later launched Operation Mid-Year Exam to clear Clinton, with James Comey asserting no reasonable prosecutor would charge her. Meanwhile, Operation Crossfire Hurricane targeted Trump, involving FISA court surveillance, falsified documents, and the entrapment of Gen. Michael Flynn.
Durham’s findings confirmed the FBI’s role in perpetuating the Russia hoax, which fueled impeachment efforts despite Mueller’s conclusion of no collusion. The bureau’s abuses extended to Seth Rich’s murder, with the FBI withholding his laptop and resisting court orders to disclose its contents. In 2020, the bureau admitted possession of Rich’s work computer, labeling it an “unrelated physical object” under Freedom of Information Act rules.
Durham’s investigation exposed systemic FBI failures, but questions remain unresolved. A full-scale probe into Rich’s murder, with no exclusions, could begin on July 10, the seventh anniversary of his death. The struggle against FBI injustice, as the text concludes, is a fight to preserve memory and truth.