During a recent episode of NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Chuck Todd expressed the need for a new “Church Committee”-like investigation to restore public confidence in the FBI after the release of the ‘special counsel John Durham’s 2016 Trump-Russia report. research
Chuck Todd emphasized the importance of the current juncture, drawing parallels with the period when the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover stopped serving the interests of the American people.
“It seems imperative that we take steps to restore trust,” Todd said.
NBC’s Chuck Todd on Durham reported on the fallout: “We seem to be at the point where we need a real Church committee… like when J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI clearly wasn’t helping the people anymore American, there was a moment, this seems. like we’re in one of those moments…” pic.twitter.com/ciRRkLMbfY
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 21, 2023
While Todd apparently doesn’t think it’s a big deal that the Durham report showed the FBI launched a spying campaign against a political candidate based on Hillary Clinton’s opposition investigation, based on unfounded rumors and even Russian disinformation, and that Russia’s deception dragged the nation down a dead end in a partisan attempt to paint a sitting president as a traitor, admits that the FBI has , at the very least, an optical problem.
“If you only consume right-wing media, you could be excused for thinking that this week’s 306-page Durham report on the Russian investigation was a ‘bombshell’ and ‘damning’ and that the investigation was a ‘abomination’ and a ‘soft coup,’” argued Todd smugly.
“But special counsel John Durham’s strongest findings after a four-year investigation were that the FBI suffered from confirmation bias and, quote, “material information deliberately discounted or ignored” that countered the narrative of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia,” Todd said. , gently placing the importance of his statement.
“The report did not recommend ‘wholesale changes’ to FBI rules for wiretapping or wiretapping, and Durham did not send a single person to prison, despite former President Trump once predicting that Durham would uncover the crime of the century,” Todd continued.
“That said, Dan Balz, this is not an FBI that should feel good about what Durham discovered because, at the very least, this issue of confirmation bias goes to the heart of how James Comey seemed to care so much about the perception of the FBI. was that he, whether he overdid or didn’t do Hillary stuff, and then he overdid or didn’t do Trump stuff,” Todd stated.
“Well, since Comey, the FBI has been under attack,” Balz offered. “And the Durham report in many ways confirms what the DOJ IG report said. It’s almost identical. And they kind of walked back some of the rhetoric that they had in there. But the FBI has been in a compromised position. And part of that has to do with the nature of our politics today. The FBI has become a politicized institution and a political target, and that’s going to make it much more difficult for to Merrick Garland as he moves forward with these investigations, and I don’t see an exit anywhere in the near future.”
This is stunning dishonesty to frame the FBI as a victim. But Todd gets to the heart of the matter: America needs a new Church committee to fully uncover the many cases of FBI corruption and abuse.
“No,” Todd said. “And let me post this headline from your paper, Dan. ‘FBI misused surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM’ — Black Lives Matter — ‘arrested and others.’
“We seem to be at a time when we need a real Church committee, that this is a time like when J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI was clearly no longer helping the American people, there was a time,” it continued. “This looks like we might be in for one of those times.”
“It looks like we have to do something to restore confidence. We have to, and it has to be moderate confidence,” he continued. “And I’ll be honest. Christopher Wray hides. He hides. He does, he just goes to Congress and doesn’t defend the institution publicly.”
Todd’s argument may be productive on the face of it, appearing to argue that there is a problem with the FBI, but the bottom line is that the agency is flawed in its methodology, rather than a partisan weapon of the Democratic Party .
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has asked Congress to direct the FBI’s budget following the release of the Durham report. The report, which exposed the FBI’s “Hurricane Crossfire” investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign as lacking evidence and due process, prompted Jordan to condemn the Democrats’ behavior, accusing them of of perpetuating false narratives through legacy media and Big Tech.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Jordan highlighted the Durham report’s findings, saying the FBI collaborated with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign to target Trump and that in 2020, former CIA operatives and intelligence officials supported Joe Biden’s campaign to a similar goal. Jordan emphasized that the goal in both cases was to prevent Trump from taking office.
“So we’ve seen it twice: one was the FBI, the second was former intelligence officials, but [with] the same goal: to go after President Trump and prevent him from being president,” Jordan told “Hannity.”
The Durham report, released Monday by the Justice Department, highlights the discrepancy in the FBI’s handling of matters related to the Clinton campaign compared to those involving her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. It concludes that the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia demonstrated a lack of analytical rigor, confirmation bias and a willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents.
Jordan called Durham’s report scathing and criticized the FBI, led by James Comey, for failing in its mission to enforce the law. He claimed the report found no evidence or justification to open the investigation and accused the FBI of dismissing evidence suggesting the Clinton campaign fabricated allegations against Trump. According to Jordan, the report underscores the failure of the FBI to follow the law and pursue the truth.
The report also revealed that before the 2016 election, FBI officials frequently intervened to prevent agents from investigating possible criminal actions involving Hillary Clinton or her campaign.
To hold the agency accountable, Jordan proposed directing the FBI’s budget through appropriations, arguing that it is the most effective lever Congress has to regain control over agencies that have repeatedly engaged in this behavior.
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