Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo reported on Sunday that she does not expect U.S. Attorney John Durham to come forth with any conclusions before the Nov. 3 election.
“It is unlikely that we will get a John Durham interim report or any indictments before the election. Now, just 37 days away, a debate has begun within the Department of Justice,” the journalist said on her Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures.
“I’m being told by sources it is now too close to the election, and could be viewed as politically motivated,” Bartiromo said. “However, I can confirm Durham’s investigation is significant and it is expanding.”
She pointed to a New York Times report last week that revealed the federal prosecutor who is conducting a criminal inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Trump-Russia investigation is also examining the handling of the FBI’s investigation of possible bribery and pay-to-play at the Clinton Foundation.
“Again, I believe based on my conversations with sources it is unlikely you’ll hear any conclusions by John Durham by Nov. 3,” Bartiromo said.
Speculation has been rampant for months about when Durham might finish his inquiry, with multiple outlets and sources variously claiming he might wrap up his investigation or issue an interim report in the summer or early fall or before the election, but with just over a month to go, that appears increasingly unlikely. Key Durham prosecutor Nora Dannehy resigned from the Connecticut federal prosecutor’s team earlier in September, reportedly due to her possible concerns about pressure to produce some sort of report before the election.
Bartiromo referred to an interview she did with Barr about Durham’s inquiry in June.
“In terms of the future of Durham’s investigation, he’s pressing ahead as hard as he can, and I expect that, you know, we will have some developments, hopefully before the end of this summer,” Barr said at that time. “But as I’ve said, his investigation will continue. It’s not gonna stop because of the election. What happens after the election may depend on who wins the election.”
Barr has denied that he is being pressured by President Trump in his handling of Durham’s investigation and claimed that any actions taken won’t affect the 2020 election, and Barr has repeatedly said Durham is not criminally investigating either former President Barack Obama or former Vice President (and 2020 Democratic nominee) Joe Biden. Nevertheless, House and Senate Democrats have called for the Justice Department’s independent watchdog to investigate Durham’s work.
Bartiromo also asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham on Sunday if he had any insights into the sources saying that Durham would not be speaking up before the November election.
“Well, I don’t know,” the South Carolina Republican said. “I’ve never talked to Mr. Durham. I think he’s a very capable, fair-minded prosecutor. But every time you look under one rock, you find something new.”
Graham also referenced new revelations about British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source, whom the FBI had previously investigated as a possible “threat to national security” due to his connections with Russian intelligence. The same Steele source, revealed to be U.S.-based, Russian-trained lawyer Igor Danchenko, later cast doubt on the reliability and credibility of Steele’s dossier.
“I’ll be shocked if nobody is charged with a crime at the FBI or the Department of Justice for misleading the FISA Court. The FISA application given to the FISA Court completely misrepresented the sub-source, who he was and what he said, and all the exculpatory information collected was never given to the court. That’s a breach of duty by DOJ and the FBI to the court, so I’ll be shocked if nobody is charged with some kind of crime in defrauding the court. But that’s up to Mr. Durham.”
Durham’s inquiry has netted one guilty plea so far, from ex-FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who played a role both in the Hillary Clinton emails and Trump-Russia investigations. Clinesmith pleaded guilty last month to altering a CIA email during the process to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants to wiretap against Carter Page to claim that the former Trump campaign associate was “not a source” for the CIA.
