FBI director says Crossfire Hurricane disciplinary action delayed at John Durham's request
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
| March 02, 2021 07:40 PM FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau slowed down its internal disciplinary process for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation at the request of special counsel John Durham, who is conducting a criminal inquiry into the officials tasked with scrutinizing former President Donald Trump's ties to Russia.
Sen. John Kennedy broached the topic during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, asking Wray how many FBI employees he had referred for prosecution as a result of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s 2019 critical report on the Russia investigation. After Wray said the prosecution issue was in Durham's hands, he was asked how many people he fired in response to the independent watchdog's findings.
“Most of the people involved in the Horowitz report are former employees. Of the ones who are current, every single one of them, even if mentioned only in passing, has been referred to our Office of Responsibility, which is our disciplinary arm,†Wray testified. “Now, that piece, and this is important, that piece of it, because we are cooperating fully with Mr. Durham’s investigation, at his request, we had slowed that process down to allow his criminal investigation to proceed. So, at the moment, that process is still underway in order to make sure that we’re being appropriately sensitive to the criminal investigation.â€
Wray also was prompted to talk about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was a focus of Horowitz's inquiry. The inspector general’s report criticized the Justice Department and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions†related to the FISA warrants against Trump 2016 campaign associate Carter Page and for the bureau's reliance on the Democratic-funded, discredited dossier by British ex-spy Christopher Steele.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fbi-christopher-wray-john-durham-crossfire-hurricane-disciplinary-action-delay
