John Durham Kicks Off Blockbuster Hearing By Saying He Found ‘Troubling Violations’ of ‘Law and Policy’ at DOJ

Special Counsel John Durham called for “accountability” at the Department of Justice in an opening statement delivered before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning, arguing that his team found “troubling violations” of “law and policy” over the course of its investigation into the FBI’s investigation into the relationship between Donald Trump and the Russian Government.

“Many of the most significant issues documented in the report that we have written, including those relating to lack of investigative discipline, failure to take logistical and logical investigative steps, and bias are relevant to important national security interests that this committee and the American people are concerned about,” began Durham. “If repeated and left unaddressed, these issues could result in significant national security risks and further erode the public’s faith and confidence in our justice system.”

He went on to call his findings “sobering” and “particularly sobering to me” given the 40 years he’s spent as a federal prosecutor and to deem reforms taken at federal law enforcement agencies as insufficient:

While I’m encouraged by some of the reforms that have been implemented by the FBI, the problems identified in this report — anybody who actually reads the report, the details of the report, the documented portions of the report — I think would find that the problems identified in the report are not susceptible to overnight fixes.

As we said in the report, they cannot be addressed solely through enhancing training or additional policy requirements. Rather, what is is required is accountability, both in terms of the standards to which our law enforcement personnel hold themselves and in the consequences they face for violations of laws and policies of relevance.

Durham emphasized “in the strongest terms possible” the integrity of his team, whom he said “followed the facts” and did not seek to advance partisan aims.

“To the extent that somebody suggests otherwise, that’s simply untrue and offensive,” he added.

He also insisted that his findings were “serious” and “demanded attention from the American public and its representatives:

For one, we found troubling violations of law and policy in the conduct of highly consequential investigations directed at members of a presidential campaign and ultimately a presidential administration. To me, it matters not whether it was a Republican campaign or a Democratic campaign — it was a presidential campaign.

Watch above via C-SPAN.