Rep. Hank Johnson says Durham ‘couldn’t even indict Hunter Biden’
Oops, he did it again.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) gleefully pointed out during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday that former special counsel John Durham had failed to bring any charges against first son Hunter Biden — who was not within the scope of the probe.
“To the extreme disappointment of some on this panel, your investigation failed to produce indictments against Hillary Clinton. Correct?” Johnson asked.
“That’s correct,” Durham said.
Johnson, 68, added the former Connecticut US attorney had also failed to indict former President Barack Obama and President Biden for having a role in the FBI’s attempt to substantiate claims of collusion between former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government.
Johnson also pointed out that former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan were not charged with any criminal offense.
“Couldn’t even indict Hunter Biden, correct?” the lawmaker then added.
“We didn’t investigate Mr. Hunter Biden,” Durham replied with a straight face.
The scandal-plagued first son agreed to plead guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor counts of twice failing to pay income tax on at least $3 million in earnings, and entered into an agreement with Justice Department prosecutors to avoid a felony firearms charge for lying on a gun purchase form.
Johnson, who is serving his ninth House term, has made strange remarks in other congressional hearings, suggesting in 2010 that the island of Guam may “tip over and capsize” due to US troop deployments.
“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,” he told then-Adm. Robert Willard during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Johnson also suggested in January that classified documents found in President Biden’s Delaware home and an office the former vice president used in Washington, DC, may have been “planted.”
Former Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Durham in 2019 to investigate the FBI and Justice Department’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe and made Durham special counsel the following October, so he could continue the probe in the event the 45th president lost the 2020 election.
On May 15, Durham released a 306-page report that found the federal law enforcement agencies had conducted a “seriously flawed” investigation into then-candidate Trump that had no evidentiary basis.
Several Democrats on the Judiciary panel, including Johnson, highlighted that the four-year Durham probe led to three indictments and cost roughly $6.5 million — a fraction of the estimated $32 million used by former FBI Director Robert Mueller in his Russiagate investigation.
“And none of the individuals you prosecuted were ever charged with being part of a hoax or a fraud or a witch hunt or a politically motivated Deep State conspiracy against Donald Trump. Isn’t that correct?” Johnson asked.
“I would not say that. That’s not accurate,” Durham answered.
“You mean you did charge somebody with being a part of a hoax?” Johnson asked.
“We charged Mr. [Michael] Sussmann with having knowingly provided false information to the FBI regarding Alfa Bank,” Durham answered, referring to allegations, shopped by the former Clinton campaign lawyer, that the Trump Organization was in backchannel communication with the Russian financial institution.
Sussmann was acquitted at trial last year, along with Igor Danchenko, a key source for ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele’s infamous dossier.
Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith also pleaded guilty in August 2020 to having falsified documents to renew a surveillance warrant on Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
