Fox legal analyst doubts John Durham inquiry will lead to criminal charges
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said he has serious doubts that criminal charges will emerge from U.S. Attorney John Durham's review of the Russia investigation.
While guest-hosting for Fox Business's Lou Dobbs, Jarrett asked Jason Chaffetz to react to a former colleague in Congress who said he expects indictments from the Justice Department investigation.
"Your former colleague, Congressman Doug Collins, said today that he believes the John Durham investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia hoax and the FISA abuse and so forth will lead to criminal charges. I personally doubt that very much," Jarrett said on Thursday, before asking the former Utah congressman what he thought.
Earlier in the day, Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, told the crowd at CPAC not to expect a report from Durham and noted how "quiet" the top Connecticut prosecutor has been. "When he’s ready to charge people, he’ll charge people," the Georgia congressman said.
Chaffetz, who led the House Oversight Committee from early 2015 to the summer of 2017, said he believes criminal charges are warranted "based on the information we have already seen and already know."
But he too struck a note of caution. Chaffetz said FBI Director Christopher Wray doesn't strike him as a "reformer," but Durham and Attorney General William Barr remain "our best hope."
"But I don’t know," he added, before referring to a former top FBI official, Bryan Paarmann, who the DOJ inspector general found to have leaked sensitive information over the course of hundreds of communications with at least six reporters. He escaped prosecution by the Justice Department.
Chaffetz said the case "had the crystal clear evidence" and wondered if a more serious matter would see the same result.
"Even the guy in the Carter Page FISA warrant application who literally altered documents. I bet you he's going to escape too. It's my prediction," Jarrett said.
He was referring to former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who altered a key document in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act filings related to one-time Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith is the only person known to be under criminal investigation by Durham's team. A scathing report by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI's applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap Page, who was suspected of being an agent of Russia but was never charged with wrongdoing. The Justice Department later determined that at least two of the four warrants were invalid.
In October, Fox News reported that Durham expanded the investigation, broadening his team to include additional agents and resources as the period of time they were examining expanded into 2017. Weeks later, it was revealed that Durham opened a criminal inquiry in his investigation, which gave the federal prosecutor the power to impanel a grand jury and hand down indictments.
Still, even as some close allies to President Trump raise expectations for criminal indictments of former federal law enforcement officials who had roles in the Russia investigation, Jarrett argued that the recent trend suggests otherwise.
"That’s how it’s going at the DOJ these days. There is no 'J' in Justice," he quipped.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fox-legal-analyst-doubts-john-durham-inquiry-will-lead-to-criminal-charges
This better NOT be true.