Alexander Downer at centre of dispute over FBI’s Russia probe
Alexander Downer is at the centre of a disagreement between two major US investigations probing the FBI’s Russia inquiry.
Former Australian High Commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer is at the centre of a sharp disagreement between the two major US investigations probing the FBI’s Russia inquiry.
The revelation came amid bitter partisan fighting in a Senate Committee about the findings of a major report into the FBI’s Russia investigation by the Justice Department’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Mr Horowitz testified that the FBI should not feel vindicated by his report which found numerous failures in its execution of the Russia inquiry.
His comment came after former FBI director James Comey claimed the FBI was vindicated by the fact that Mr Horowitz’s report found the FBI was justified in starting the Russia probe and was not politically tainted.
“The activities we found here don’t vindicate anybody who touched this,” Mr Horowitz said, in a rebuff to Mr Comey who was sacked by Mr Trump in May 2017.
The report detailed 17 errors and omissions by the FBI when it applied for wiretaps, including a failure to tell the court that some of the information it used to apply for warrants was unreliable.
But Mr Horowitz’s testimony also revealed that information provided by Mr Downer is at the centre of a disagreement between himself and lawyer John Durham who is heading up a second major investigation into the FBI’s Russia probe.
Mr Horowitz revealed that Mr Durham, who was hand picked by Attorney General William Barr to conduct his investigation, did not believe Mr Downer’s information was strong enough to justify a full investigation by the FBI.
He said Mr Durham told him that he believed Mr Downer’s information was only worthy of initiating a ‘preliminary’ FBI investigation rather than a ‘full’ investigation.
A preliminary investigation cannot authorise wiretaps – an area which turned out to be the most controversial aspect of the FBI’s Russia probe.
Mr Downer told the US in July 2016 that he had been told by then Trump aide George Papadopoulos that Russia had emails that might be damaging to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The FBI commenced the Russia inquiry only days after receiving Mr Downer’s information.
Mr Horowitz’s report into the FBI’s Russian investigation found that under FBI rules, Mr Downer’s information was sufficient justification to open the Russia investigation.
Mr Horowitz said Mr Durham “said during the meeting that the information from the friendly foreign government (Downer) was in his view sufficient to support the preliminary investigation,” but probably not a full investigation.
Mr Horowitz said that neither Mr Durham’s comments nor those of Mr Barr – who also disputed that the FBI was justified in launching the Russia investigation – made him change his conclusion that the FBI acting appropriately in starting the probe.
Mr Durham, whose report will be realised later next year, released a statement early this week saying he did not agree with some of Mr Horowitz’s conclusion but he did not say which ones.
The Republican chairman of the Senator Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham launched a fierce attack on the FBI, accusing it of “a massive criminal conspiracy” in starting its Russian investigation into Mr Trump’s election campaign.
“What has been described as a few irregularities becomes a massive criminal conspiracy over time to defraud the FISA court, to illegally surveil an American citizen and keep an operation open against a sitting president of the United States – violating every norm known to the rule of law,” Senator Graham said.
“It was as if J Edgar Hoover came back to life … the old FBI that had a chip on its shoulder and wanted to intimidate people.”
The ranking Democrat on the committee Dianne Feinstein, said the report debunked the political conspiracy theories peddled by the president and Republicans.
“This was not a politically motived investigation,’ she said. “There is no deep state.”
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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