During a recent episode of NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Chuck Todd expressed the need for a fresh inquiry akin to the “Church Committee” to regain public confidence in the FBI following the release of special counsel John Durham’s report on the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation.
Chuck Todd emphasized the significance of the current juncture, drawing parallels to the period when the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover ceased to serve the interests of the American people.
“It appears imperative that we take action to reinstate trust,” Todd said.
NBC's Chuck Todd on Durham report fallout: "It feels like we're in the moment that we need a real Church Committee…like when the J. Edgar Hoover FBI clearly was no longer helping the American people, there was a moment — this feels like we might be in one of those moments…" pic.twitter.com/ciRRkLMbfY
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While Todd doesn’t apparently think it’s a big deal that the Durham report showed the FBI opened up a spying campaign against a political candidate based on Hillary Clinton’s opposition research, based on unsubstantiated rumors and even Russian disinformation, and that the Russia hoax dragged a nation through a blind alley in a partisan attempt to paint a sitting president as a traitor, he does concede that the FBI has, at a minimum, an optics problem.
“If you only consume media on the right, you might be excused for thinking this week’s 306-page Durham report on the Russian inquiry was a ‘bombshell’ and ‘damning’ and that the investigation was an ‘abomination’ and a ‘soft coup’,” Todd smugly argued.
“But special counsel John Durham’s actual sharpest conclusions after a four-year investigation were that the FBI suffered from confirmation bias and, quote, ‘discounted or willfully ignored material information’ that countered the narrative of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia,” Todd said, soft-peddling the import of his statement.
“The report recommended no ‘wholesale changes’ to FBI rules for regulations or wiretaps, and Durham did not send a single person to jail, even though former President Trump once predicted that Durham would uncover the crime of the century,” Todd continued.
“That said, Dan Balz, this is not an FBI that should feel good about what Durham discovered because at a minimum, this issue of confirmation bias goes to the heart of how James Comey seemed to worry so much about what the perception of the FBI was that he – whether it was overdid or underdid Hillary stuff, and then overdid or underdid Trump stuff,” Todd contended.
“Well, since, since Comey, the FBI has been under attack,” Balz proffered. “And the Durham report in many ways confirms what the DOJ IG report said. It’s almost identical. And in some ways backed off some of the rhetoric that they had going into it. But the FBI’s been in a compromised position. And part of that has to do with the nature of our politics today. The FBI has become a politicized institution and a political target, and this is going to make it much more difficult for Merrick Garland as he goes forward with these investigations, and I don’t see any way out of that in the – anywhere in the near future.”
This is breathtaking dishonesty to frame the FBI as the victim. But Todd does get to the heart of the matter: America needs a new Church Committee to fully uncover the FBI’s many cases of corruption and abuse.
“No,” Todd said. “And let me throw in this headline from your newspaper, Dan. ‘FBI misused surveillance tool on January 6th suspects, BLM’—- Black Lives Matter – ‘arrestees and others.’
“Feels like we’re in a moment that we need a real Church Committee, that this is a moment like when the J. Edgar Hoover FBI clearly was no longer helping the American people, there was a moment,” he continued. “This feels like we might be in one of those moments.”
“It seems like we have to do something to restore trust. We have to – and it has to be moderate trust,” he went on. “And I’ll be honest. Christopher Wray hides. He hides. He does – he only goes before Congress, and he doesn’t defend the institution publicly.”
Todd’s argument may be productive at face value, seeming to argue that there is a problem with the FBI, but the upshot is that the agency is flawed in its methodology, instead of a partisan weapon of the Democratic Party.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has called on Congress to target the budget of the FBI following the release of Durham’s report. The report, which exposed the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign as lacking evidence and due process, prompted Jordan to condemn the behavior of Democrats, accusing them of perpetuating false narratives through legacy media outlets and Big Tech.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Jordan highlighted the findings of Durham’s report, asserting that the FBI collaborated with Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 to target Trump, and that in 2020, former CIA agents and intelligence officials supported Joe Biden’s campaign in a similar objective. Jordan stressed that the aim in both cases was to prevent Trump from assuming office.
“So we’ve seen it twice—one it was the FBI, the second one it was former intel officials—but [with] the same objective: to go after President Trump and keep him from being president,” Jordan told “Hannity.”
The Durham report, released by the Justice Department on Monday, highlights the discrepancy in the FBI’s handling of issues related to Clinton’s campaign compared to those involving her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. It concludes that the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia demonstrated a lack of analytical rigor, confirmation bias, and a willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents.
Jordan characterized Durham’s report as scathing and criticized the FBI, led by James Comey, for failing to adhere to its mission of upholding the law. He claimed that the report found no evidence or justification for initiating the investigation and accused the FBI of dismissing evidence that suggested the Clinton campaign fabricated allegations against Trump. According to Jordan, the report underscores the FBI’s failure to follow the law and pursue the truth.
The report also revealed that before the 2016 election, FBI officials frequently intervened to prevent agents from investigating potential criminal actions related to Hillary Clinton or her campaign.
To hold the agency accountable, Jordan proposed targeting the FBI’s budget through appropriations, arguing that it is the most effective leverage Congress has to regain control over agencies that have engaged in such behavior repeatedly.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.