Introduction
This report is submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 600.8(c), which states that, “[a]t the conclusion of the Special Counsel’s work, he … shall provide the Attorney General a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.” In addition to the confidential report required by section 600.8(c), the Attorney General has directed that the Special Counsel, “to the maximum extent possible and consistent with the law and the policies and practices of the Department of Justice, shall submit to the Attorney General a final report, and such interim reports as he deems appropriate, in a form that will permit public dissemination.”[1] This report is in fulfillment of these requirements and sets forth our principal findings and recommendations concerning the matters that were the subject of our review. Section I briefly describes the scope of our investigation, and Section II is an Executive Summary of this report. Section III describes the laws and Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) policies that applied to, or were addressed in, our investigation. Section IV summarizes the facts and evidence that we found and describes our prosecution and declination decisions. In Section V, we provide some observations on issues pertinent to our areas of inquiry.
I. The Special Counsel’s Investigation
In March 2019, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III concluded his investigation into the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, “including any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign.” That investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”[2] Following Special Counsel Mueller’s report, on May 13, 2019, Attorney General Barr “directed United States Attorney John Durham to conduct a preliminary review into certain matters related to the 2016 presidential election campaigns,” and that review “subsequently developed into a criminal investigation.”[3] On February 6, 2020, the Attorney General appointed Mr. Durham “as Special Attorney to the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515.”[4] On October 19, 2020, the Attorney General determined that, “in light of the extraordinary circumstances relating to these matters, the public interest warrants Mr. Durham continuing this investigation pursuant to the powers and independence afforded by the Special Counsel regulations.” Relying on “the authority vested” in the Attorney General, “including 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510, and 515,” the
- ↑ Office of the Att’y Gen., Order No. 4878-2020, Appointment of Special Counsel to Investigate Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns ¶ (f) (Oct. 19, 2020) (hereinafter “Appointment Order”).
- ↑ 1 Robert Mueller, Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election 1–2 (2019) (hereinafter “Mueller Report”); see also id. at 173.
- ↑ Appointment Order (introduction). When Mr. Durham was asked to lead the review, he was serving as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Before May 2019, Mr. Durham had been asked by Attorneys General of both major political parties, namely Janet Reno, Judge Michael Mukasey, Eric Holder, and Senator Jeff Sessions, to conduct other sensitive investigations for the Department.
- ↑ Letter from the Attorney General to United States Attorney John Durham (Feb. 6, 2020).
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