Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is encouraging the incoming Biden administration to let Special Counsel John Durham continue his probe of the origins of the FBI’s 2016 Russia investigation.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, Cornyn said, “I think there would be a big price to pay, and I think they would be very ill-advised to [fire Durham.]”
“By and large, I think the vice president’s not personally implicated. This is, of course, the Obama administration and those Justice Department officials,” he added.
Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham, who is a U.S. attorney, to examine the FBI’s Russia probe in 2019. He tasked Durham with looking into the origins of the 2016 Russian probe — named Crossfire Hurricane — and whether intelligence collection related to the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate.”
President Donald Trump and his supporters hoped that the Durham probe would uncover evidence of wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement officials involved in Crossfire Hurricane before the 2020 election.
However, in the months leading up to the election, Barr reportedly told Republican lawmakers it was unlikely that Durham would conclude his probe and release a report before the election.
Speaking about the report during an appearance on Rush Limbaugh’s show, Trump said, “If Bill Barr actually made that statement, I would be very disappointed in him. I don’t know that he made that statement.”
Officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) previously raised concerns that the incoming Biden administration would move to shut down Durham’s probe.
To help ensure that Durham can continue his work after Biden is sworn in, Barr appointed Durham a special counsel in October.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Barr said, “I decided the best thing to do would be to appoint them under the same regulation that covered Bob Mueller, to provide Durham and his team some assurance that they’d be able to complete their work regardless of the outcome of the election.”
He added that Durham’s investigation has “narrowed considerably” and is “really is focused on the activities of the crossfire hurricane investigation within the FBI.”
The move to make Durham a special counsel means that the Biden administration can only fire him for a specific reason, such as misconduct or conflict of interest.
Cornyn also said he supported the move to make Durham a special counsel, “I think that’s a smart idea. I was worried [about] that because of the election results that the Durham investigation would just be swept under the rug.”
“I think it’s really important for us to get to the bottom of this, and I think he’s an impartial individual who’s handled very sensitive investigations in the past, and I think basically giving him the same status now as Robert Mueller will protect him from political firings.”
While Cornyn warned Biden against firing Durham, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during an interview on MSNBC that the incoming attorney general will likely “look to see if there is any merit to the work that John Durham is doing and make a rational decision about whether that should continue at any level.”
“I think the next attorney general will have every opportunity to examine, to repeal, or to allow the investigation to continue if the next attorney general thinks there is anything, any part of it that has any merit,” he added.
