[14] In 2002, Durham helped secure the conviction of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal racketeering charges for protecting Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution and warning Bulger to flee just before the gangster's 1995 indictment. Interrogations", "Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on Closure of Investigation into the Interrogation of Certain Detainees", "Attorney General taps top Connecticut federal prosecutor for review of Trump-Russia inquiry", "Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry", "Special Counsel Spends $1.5 Million in Probe of Russia Inquiry", "Special counsel Durham has spent at least $6.5 million on inquiry into Trump-Russia probe", "Primary source for Trump-Russia dossier acquitted, handing special counsel Durham another trial loss", "Steele dossier source acquitted, in loss for special counsel Durham", "Washington's Most Powerful, Least Famous People", "Attorney General Holder Recognizes Department Employees and Others for Their Service at Annual Awards Ceremony", "US attorney's 'apolitical' reputation on the line as he helps Barr review the Russia probe", Department of Justice corruption allegations, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Durham&oldid=1138683371, United States Attorneys for the District of Connecticut, United States Department of Justice lawyers, University of Connecticut School of Law alumni, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 00:50. In a statement issued prior to the indictment, Sussmanns lawyers insisted that their client was innocent and they suggested that politics were at work in the decision to charge their client. Durham has proven time and again to be effective in bringing convictions on those associated with the New England Mafia. John Durham is 71 years old. Ricos case never went to trial; Rico passed away before it could be done. IE 11 is not supported. Sign up now to get the Washington Examiners breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. The collusion accusations were part of the basis for a number of FISA warrants which allowed government entities to gather intelligence on the Trump family and its organization. And so I wanted to get this get the information into the hands of the agents as quickly as possible and let them deal with it. 10/12/2022 02:24 PM EDT. Special counsel John Durham, here in 2018, was tapped by former Attorney General William Barr to look into the origins of the FBI's investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Danchenko has pleaded not guilty; an attorney representing him when he was charged has asserted Danchenkos work as a researcher is above reproach and that people with an agenda were seeking to tarnish his reputation. "At its core, the Special Counsel is bringing a false statement charge based on an oral statement allegedly made five years ago to a single witness that is unrecorded and unobserved by anyone else. A locked padlock [27] Durham's mandate was to look at only those interrogations that had gone "beyond the officially sanctioned guidelines", with Holder saying interrogators who had acted in "good faith" based on the guidance found in the Torture Memos issued by the Bush Justice Department were not to be prosecuted. Raskin roasts Durham inquiry as 'total flop,' presses Republicans to investigate. Durham has been praised for his tenacity and professionalism throughout this particular investigation, with few, if any, leaks of information to the media. The firm's political law group represented Clinton's presidential campaign and has long provided counsel to the Democratic National Committee. A source familiar with Durhams probe say that the attorney handles the investigation very professionally, pointing to the fact that,, President Trump compared the case to Watergate, saying the allegations against Hillary Clintons campaign and various individuals, including a lawyer, Within the last two months, John Durhams investigation into the Steele dossier, the FISA warrants issued as a result of, Information on Hunter Bidens wealth varies. 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Could be. July 24, 2021 August 7, 2021 Brian Cates Trump Had To Step Aside So The American People Could Be . Durham boasts over four decades in the legal field, and Time magazine has noted his nonpartisan professionalism. [29] Davis wrote an appeal to former Bush administration officials to take their accounts of illegality directly to Durham. Durham was born in Boston, Massachusetts. The charge against Sussmann from a Washington grand jury is the first outward sign of activity in Durhams investigation in nearly nine months. From 1977 to 1978, he served as a Deputy Assistant State's Attorney in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. Barr gave him the special counsel designation in October 2020 signing an order that protected the investigation from any potential change in political leadership and required the submission of a final report that could be made public. Durhams investigation suffered a significant setback in the spring when a Washington, DC, jury acquitted Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who took over the FBIs Russia investigation, ultimately ran up a tab of just under $32 million over two years. Therefore, many details regarding his early life are unknown. President Joe Biden and his administration are putting on a master's class in ethics in the federal investigation into the business dealings of the president's son Hunter Biden. [36][37], In 2011, Durham was included on The New Republic's list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people. Michael Sussmann appears in federal court on September 17, 2021. Special counsel John Durhams inquiry into the origins of the investigation into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump presidential campaign spent close to $3.8 million over its first year of operations. Durham resigned as U.S. Attorney effective February 28, 2021. How rich is King Charles? He oversaw a task force of FBI agents brought in from other offices to investigate the Boston office's handling of informants. [30][31], Beginning in 2017, Trump and his allies alleged that the FBI investigation (known as Crossfire Hurricane) of possible contacts between his associates and Russian officials (which led to the Mueller investigation) was a "hoax" or "witch hunt" that was baselessly initiated by his political enemies. [14] Durham's task force also gathered evidence against retired FBI agent H. Paul Rico, who was indicted in Oklahoma on state charges that he helped Bulger and Flemmi kill a Tulsa businessman in 1981. By ERIC TUCKER August 13, 2021. Official websites use .gov Muellers prosecutors charged 34 people, including 26 Russian nationals. I mean, so I was uncomfortable with being in the position of having too much factual information conveyed to me, because Im not an agent, Baker said. It was closed in 2012 with no charges filed. The decision to keep the original head prosecutor on the Hunter Biden case signals the presidents willingness to let the investigation proceed where it may, even if that results in a possible criminal charge against his son. ", "U.S. launches criminal probe into CIA tapes", "Veteran prosecutor takes over CIA probe", "No Criminal Charges Sought Over C.I.A. ", "The Special Counsel appears to be using this indictment to advance a conspiracy theory he has chosen not to actually charge," they said in a statement. hide caption. The indictment says the DNC retained Sussmann in April 2016 to represent it in connection with Russia's hacking of DNC servers, and Sussmann also advised the Clinton campaign on cybersecurity issues. From his Russia, if youre listening remark about finding Hillary Clintons missing emails to his repeatedly asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to announce an investigation into Hunter Biden in return for military aid, Trump has always shown his appetite for using investigations as political weapons. ", Sussmann's attorneys, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, said their client will "fight this baseless and politically-inspired prosecution. 2021 4:58 PM ET. Durham, along with fifty-six others nominated to similar positions by President Trump, was a part of the shake-up at the request of Joe Biden. After in one year in this position, Durham would then move to the Assistant States Attorney position in the New Haven, Connecticut office of the Connecticut States Attorney. The FBI subsequently investigated the purported link but found insufficient evidence to support it, prosecutors say. Whether or not Hunter Biden, who has denied any wrongdoing, is ultimately charged, Trumps latest insertion of himself into the investigation is unlikely to have any effect on the matter. But the prosecutors curiously portrayed the FBI as the victim of Sussmanns machinations when the proof suggested that the bureau was not fooled at all and seemed more like a willing participant in building the Trump/Russia political narrative. On frontier of new gold rush, quest for coveted EV metals yields misery, first asked him to review the FBI investigation, alleged in an indictment that Michael Sussmann, ran up a tab of just under $32 million over two years. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. [26], In August 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Durham to lead the Justice Department's investigation of the legality of CIA's use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the torture of detainees. President Joe Biden and his administration are putting on a masters class in ethics in the federal investigation into the business dealings of the presidents son Hunter Biden. The information was significant because it was included in a series of reports prepared by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who had been hired by an opposition research firm working for the Clinton campaign. WASHINGTON John H. Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation, has told the Justice Department that he will ask a grand jury to. This particular office investigated and prosecuted organized crime, especially racketeering. Congressional investigators asked Sussmann in 2017 about this episode with Baker. He said after Sussmann dropped off the material, he quickly passed it to Bill Priestap, the head of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division at the time. From 1989 to 1994, he served as Chief of the Office's Criminal Division. | (U.S. Department of Justice via AP). [14], In 2008, Durham was appointed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations. In November the special counsel indicted Igor Danchenko, a Washington-based Russian migr who was an important source for the contentious Steele dossier that served an important role in the initial phases of the FBI inquiry Durham is now investigating. Since late 2021, two major indictments have been handed down one for a Russian operative who is said to be the source of the Steele Dossier and Attorney Michael Sussman. Whether Trump likes it or not, the Hunter Biden investigation is proceeding as it should mostly in silence. Sussman billed these meetings to the Clinton campaign, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege Sussmann lied by denying that he was representing any client as he told the FBI about digital evidence allegedly linking computers in Trump Tower to Russias Alfa Bank. [22][23][24] On November 8, 2010, Durham closed the investigation without recommending any criminal charges be filed. Sussmann is facing a single false statements count in connection with a conversation he had with then-FBI general counsel Jim Baker on Sept. 19, 2016. From April through September, Durham reported a tab of about $2.36 million, including about $1.89 million his team spent and about $471,000 recorded by other Justice Department offices as being in support of his work. [7] In December 2020, Barr revealed to Congress that he had secretly appointed Durham to lead the Durham special counsel investigation on October 19. Statement of Expenditures, April 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022, Statement of Expenditures, October 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022, Statement of Expenditures, April 1, 2021 - September 30, 2021, Statement of Expenditures, October 19, 2020 - March 31, 2021, Department of Justice Durham has been rather quiet but professional regarding his current case. Last year, Durham indicted him on five counts of lying to the FBI. That includes roughly more than $2.3 million between April 1 and Sept. 30. Some close to the investigation have said Durham appeared not simply to be seeking out potential crimes, but conducting a broader review of the quality of the intelligence that led the FBI to begin investigating people tied to the Trump campaign. Interestingly enough, one of the corruption charges against Rowland had to do with election fraud. And in all of the regular reports she received from line prosecutors, supervisors and heads of divisions, that concern was never brought up. Danchenko and Sussmann are among the three people who have faced criminal charges from Durhams probe since it was commissioned by then-attorney general William Barr in May 2019. He also billed the Clinton campaign for meetings with journalists about the same materials. The case is one of three brought so far by special counsel John Durham, who was tapped in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to investigate the genesis of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe.. Room B-103 U.S. Attorney John Durham, center, outside federal court in New Haven, Connecticut in February 2021 Sussmann's allies believed they found some potentially alarming links from Trump to Russia,. Russiagate special counsel John Durham is in the homestretch. But Baker emphasized that he intentionally avoided learning more about the claim. Tapes", "Gina Haspel's Testimony About C.I.A. He was sworn in on February 22, 2018. Durham loses again in court, but trial airs FBI flaws, Jury gets Danchenko case in what may be Durham's swan song, Judge dismisses 1 of 5 counts against Trump dossier source, Durham presents new evidence on day 2 of Danchenko trial, Sussmann acquitted on charge brought by special counsel Durham, Jury sees conflicting evidence on Michael Sussmann's role at FBI Trump-Russia meeting, Jurors hear contrasting stories about FBI handling of Trump-Russia secret server claims, Clinton 2016 campaign manager denies approving passing anti-Trump info to FBI. The New York Times reported on Wednesday night that John Durham has informed the Department of Justice he will ask a grand jury to indict Michael Sussmann over his making a false statement to. Durhams career spans nearly fifty years, and it is certain he earned pensions and other compensation as a federal prosecutor as well. President Biden's hands-off approach during the federal investigation into his son is one way he's trying to repair the damage the Trump administration did to the Justice Department. Ryan King | February 09 . He was born on March 16, 1950. Mr. The administrations effort to recover the Justice Departments integrity is not limited to the Hunter Biden case. John Durham, the special counsel investigating the origins of the Russia inquiry, has obtained documents from the Brookings Institution in Washington about a former employee. Durham has so far charged two people with lying to the FBI. Michael Sussmann, who worked through his law firm as an attorney for the Hillary Clinton campaign, is accused of a single felony count in a grand jury indictment. The case against Sussmann was assigned on Thursday to Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of President Barack Obama. A lock ( John H. Durham will remain as special counsel even as the Biden administration requests a mass resignation of U.S. attorneys. Rico died in 2004 before the case went to trial. Rowland. From 1994 to 2008, he served as the Deputy U.S. Attorney, and served as the U.S. Attorney in an acting and interim capacity in 1997 and 1998. The tally is not a complete accounting of Durhams expenses since his investigation began in the spring of 2019. It would also lead to the first Trump impeachment. Americans anxiously await further Durham findings, and experts say that there is much more to come regarding Durhams investigation. Special counsel John Durhams review of the FBI investigation into possible coordination between Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government has cost U.S. taxpayers about $3.8 million since October 2020, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday. Durham has been appointed as a special investigator in a number of high profile cases, specifically, the Whitey Bulger case. Unlike the Jan. 6 Capitol attack cases and potential investigations into members of Congress and Trump advisers that could emerge, the Hunter Biden matter is not one that involves seditious conspiracy against the U.S., an attempt to overturn a presidential election or any other issue of national significance. The FBI and congressional investigators both examined the pings between the computer systems and determined they were innocuous. He has been appointed a special investigator by the federal government as well. [25] Durham's final report remains secret but was the subject of an unsuccessful lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act filed by The New York Times reporter Charlie Savage. When I served as counsel to then-Attorney General Janet Reno, she had appointed five independent counsels in President Bill Clintons first term, hardly endearing her to the president (but notably causing no public castigation of Reno by Clinton). Of that, nearly $1.9 million was directly related to the teams investigation and approximately $471,000 was spent by other parts of the Justice Department in connection to Durhams work. Coronation prompts scrutiny of royal wealth. I dont want to say anything beyond what is in the regulations, but we are following the regulations.. Lock Some fear his work for Barr could tarnish it. The public learns information from court filings submitted by Durham, who even utilizes highly professional methods of identifying witnesses by using a professional title or some other moniker that does not identify the individual (for instance, Durham will use Tech Executive 1 to describe a person rather than a given name). Sussmann testified he passed the information along on behalf of a client, who is a cybersecurity expert. The bottom two pillars of the Durham triangle, I believe, are the FBI's -- John Durham's indictment of the FBI attorney, which is literally an indictment of the FBI, and now a criminal. A spokesperson for Garland did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his role in the case. He investigated this allegation for over two years before he closed the case. Durham presents new evidence on day 2 of Danchenko trial. He blew the whistle on Trumps Truth Social. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. A previous spending report released in May showed the Durham probe had totaled about $1.5 million from Oct. 19 through March 31. Attorneys President Joe Biden asked to resign in February 2021. Durham was asked to be the special prosecutor for another major corruption case this time involving the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. Durhams first job in the legal work was working in the Connecticut state government. . The indictment alleges that Sussmann "lied about the capacity in which he was providing the allegations to the FBI.". Sussmann has committed no crime, defense attorneys Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth said in the statement. According to the indictment, Sussmann stated falsely that he was not acting on behalf of any client when he gave the information to the FBIs general counsel, who passed it along to agents to investigate. [16] On February 16, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by voice vote of the Senate. Danchenko, a Russian analyst who contributed to a dossier of Democratic-funded research into ties between Russia and Donald Trump, was arrested Thursday on charges of lying to the FBI about his sources of information, among them an associate of Hillary Clinton. Comparing his expenditures to Durhams is difficult, though, because of the time period in which Durham was not operating as a special counsel, and the differing natures of their assignments. Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email that was used to get surveillance on a former Trump campaign adviser, was sentenced to one year of probation. Shan Wu is a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor who served as counsel to then-Attorney General Janet Reno. And under questioning from Democratic staff, Baker added that he wouldnt have viewed the information differently had he been aware of Sussmanns link to the campaign. Sussman was indicted on charges of providing false statements to the FBI, but, Sussmans name is back in the headlines again as a Durham court filing alleges that Sussman took manipulated traffic supposedly from Trump Tower and later the White House to the FBI inferring there was a connection between the Trump Organization and Russian government. In staff meetings with the attorney general, no one ever mentioned the political ramifications of any case. [34] By September 2022 the costs of his investigation has climbed to $6.5 million since assuming the role of special counsel. Less than a month after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released publicly in March 2019, Barr announced that he had assigned John Durhamthe U.S. Attorney for the District of . It is likely he was paid well for these special assignments. From 1978 to 1982, Durham served as an Assistant State's Attorney in the New Haven State's Attorney's Office. The most prominent member of the New England Mafia was Peter Limone. At times, he would serve as an interim United States Attorney General. NTD News reports: When Special Counsel John Durham finishes his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, his report will likely be made public, a Department of Justice official suggested in a newly released letter. At the time, Sussmann worked for the law firm Perkins Coie, which has long ties to Democrats; he has since resigned. By April 2019, he had been assigned to investigate the origins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, and in October 2020 he was appointed special counsel for the Department of Justice on that matter. Copyright 2010-2021 This Nation. Associated Press; Getty Images Special counsel John Durham filed a new indictment in his investigation into the FBI's Russia probe.. When the bureau finally got around to questioning Danchenko because it hadnt been able to corroborate Steeles claims despite relying on them in court it learned that Steele appeared to have exaggerated and possibly fabricated rumors and innuendo about Trump that Danchenko was said to have passed along. That last one should be grabbing our attention. Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and cybersecurity expert, is the second defendant facing charges brought amid Durhams long-running investigation. Thanks for contacting us. [11] From 1982 to 1989, he served as an attorney and then supervisor in the New Haven Field Office of the Boston Strike Force in the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. Durhams investigation turned up evidence, however, that was used by the mens families to win a multi-million dollar settlement for wrongful conviction. Ironically, most of Durhams career has been spent in the United States government, whether he was a United States Attorney, a Chief of the Criminal Division (for a District Attorney office), a supervisor for a District Attorneys field office. Theres more. Durham had spent five years as a state prosecutor before he went to work for the United States Attorney Generals office (District of Connecticut). By April 2019, U.S. Attorney General William Barr had tasked Durham with overseeing a review of the origins of the Russia investigation and to determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was "lawful and appropriate". John Henry Durham (born March 16, 1950)[3][4][5] is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut (D. Conn.) from 2018 to 2021. The FBI ultimately could not find anything nefarious about the connections. Torture Raises New Questions", "Holder Hires Prosecutor to Look Into Alleged CIA Interrogation Abuses", "Investigation of Bush-era Torture Concludes With No Charges", "Holder Rules Out Prosecutions in C.I.A. His wife is Susan (no maiden name revealed), and public information shows that he has four sons as well as eight grandchildren with his wife. [12], After Durham's volunteer work, he became a state prosecutor in Connecticut. But thats not the half of it. Durhams quiet demeanor lends little public knowledge of his personal life. That was detailed in yet another Durham court filing last week, in the Virginia federal court where Danchenko is soon scheduled to be tried. Special counsel to review origins of Trump-Russia investigation, Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, the 2005 destruction of interrogation tapes, Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (2019), Timeline of investigations into Donald Trump and Russia (20202021), "John Durham Named Interim U.S. Attorney; Presidential Nomination Expected", "Prosecutor Who Unraveled Corruption in Boston Turns to C.I.A. Its significance lies in how evenhandedly his case is treated. Durham was described by a fellow attorney as tireless, fair, and aggressive. This is evident in his handling of the current Trump-Russian collusion investigation; very rarely are any details of the case released, and they are hardly ever leaked. The latest report includes some expenses from that prior time frame, which came in higher than had been estimated. Bill Hennessy CNN Special counsel John Durham gave a glimpse on Wednesday of his extensive use of a federal grand jury to. [14], From 2008 to 2012, Durham served as the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Durhams prosecutors presented abundant evidence that Sussmann had falsely told the FBI that he was not working for the Clinton campaign when he peddled spurious information about a supposed Trump-Putin communications back channel. For now, we have to hope that Durhams final report will answer that question. Some former intelligence community officials have said those sorts of judgments were better reviewed by inspectors general of the intelligence agencies and not by a federal prosecutor. Danchenko turns out to have been Steeles principal source for this fever dream. WASHINGTON (AP) John Durham, the federal prosecutor tapped to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, has been presenting evidence before a grand jury as part of his probe, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. He has also investigated corruption, and torture techniques utilized on detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Clinesmiths alterations, Durham charged, obscured Pages prior relationship with the CIA. Unbelievably, Durham now explains that the counterintelligence investigation was closed because the FBI incorrectly believed that [Danchenko] had left the country.. Department of Justice via AP I signed one of those letters. A criminal investigation into the deaths of two detainees, Gul Rahman in Afghanistan and Manadel al-Jamadi in Iraq, was opened in 2011. We now know that the so-called dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was a Clinton campaign production. Any prosecution here would be baseless, unprecedented, and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work.. John Allen Irwin was born November 6, 1933, in Chicago Illinois and died peacefully June 16, 2021 at the age of 87 surrounded by family.

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