London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

FBI lacked 'actual evidence' to begin probing potential links between Trump and Russia, report finds

FBI lacked 'actual evidence' to begin probing potential links between Trump and Russia, report finds

Former president Donald Trump, who is likely to use the findings as political fodder, has said the report's findings show "the American Public was scammed".

The FBI lacked any "actual evidence" to begin investigating potential links between Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, a report has concluded.

US Special Counsel John Durham's probe also found the bureau had relied too heavily on tips provided by the former president's political opponents before it launched its early stage "Crossfire Hurricane" inquiry.

Mr Trump, who will likely use the findings as political fodder as he aims to seek re-election in 2024, wrote on his Truth Social platform: "WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe! In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don't want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!"

The report marks the end of a four-year probe launched in May 2019 when then Attorney General William Barr appointed Mr Durham to investigate potential missteps by the FBI when it launched Crossfire Hurricane.

That investigation would later be handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 concluded there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Mr Trump's campaign and Moscow.

In his new 306-page report, Mr Durham concluded that US intelligence and law enforcement did not possess any "actual
evidence" of collusion between Mr Trump's campaign and Russia prior to launching Crossfire Hurricane.

The report criticised the FBI for opening a full-fledged investigation based on "raw, unanalysed and uncorroborated intelligence," saying the speed at which it did so was a departure from the norm.

It also said investigators repeatedly relied on "confirmation bias", ignoring or rationalising away evidence that undercut their premise of a Trump-Russia conspiracy as they pushed the probe forward.

John Durham's report has criticised the FBI.


He also accused the bureau of treating the 2016 Trump probe differently from other politically sensitive investigations,
including several involving the former president's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

For instance, he said Mrs Clinton and other officials received defensive briefings about being the possible targets of foreign interference, whereas Mr Trump received no such briefing before the FBI opened probes into four members of his campaign.

In response to the report, the FBI said it has already implemented dozens of corrective actions that have been in place
for some time.

Mr Durham's report was released to Congress on Monday without redactions after it was delivered to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday.

House Judiciary Committee Republican Chair Jim Jordan said on Twitter he has invited Mr Durham to testify about his report next week.

The report comes as Mr Trump is planning to run for re-election in 2024 despite facing criminal charges in New York.

Meanwhile, two federal investigations by Special Counsel Jack Smith are looking both at Mr Trump's retention of classified records and his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump had hoped Mr Durham would release his report ahead of the 2020 election, in what he thought would be a blow to President Joe Biden's campaign.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×