John Durham’s Recent Filings Ignored by Mainstream Media: Republicans

John Durham speaks to reporters on the steps of U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., on April 25, 2006. Bob Child/AP Photo

Update: In a statement this week, Clinton denied claims that her 2016 campaign spied on former President Trump. In a Twitter post, the longtime Democrat wrote that “Trump & Fox are desperately spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real ones. So it’s a day that ends in Y.” She added, “The more his misdeeds are exposed, the more they lie.”

Republicans seized on a recent court filing submitted by special prosecutor John Durham that alleged individuals working on behalf of the Clinton campaign tried to infiltrate Trump campaign and White House servers, arguing that mainstream news outlets are avoiding covering Durham’s findings.

“A tech company hacked the White House and spied on a sitting President. This should concern everyone. But the mainstream media refuses to cover it,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote on Twitter. The lawmaker made similar comments during a Fox News appearance on Feb. 14.

“Yep, there was spying going on, and it was worse than we thought because they were spying on the sitting ​president of the United States,” Jordan told “Fox & Friends.” “And it goes right to the Clinton campaign.”

Durham’s Feb. 11 motion was connected to lawyer Michael Sussmann, a former Perkins Coie lawyer who was charged in 2021 with lying to the FBI when he allegedly told the bureau that he wasn’t working for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign when he had given the agency now-debunked documents that allegedly linked the Trump Organization to a Russian bank. Sussmann has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in the case.

Meanwhile, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said on Feb. 13 that the investigation uncovered a “new level of corruption” that raises “grave” concerns.

“I mean, this is a threat to our democracy itself,” Turner told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “It doesn’t matter really which political campaign this is or which political party this is. This is so wrong and allegations of such ​a ​level of illegal activity that goes directly to our faith in our own government that the truth must be found​.”

Sussmann, according to the recent filing, “had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign​.“ Records also show that he ”repeatedly billed” the campaign for his work regarding the allegations around Trump and the Russian bank.

“In connection with these efforts, Tech Executive-1 exploited his access to non-public and/or proprietary Internet data,” his filing ​stated. “Tech Executive-1 also enlisted the assistance of researchers at a U.S.-based university who were receiving and analyzing large amounts of Internet data in connection with a pending federal government cybersecurity research contract.”

Over the past weekend, former President Donald Trump issued a statement saying Durham’s court filing corroborates his longtime claims that his 2016 campaign and presidency were subject to a widespread pressure campaign directed against him for holding unorthodox views. He also faulted the media for its coverage.

“It shows how totally corrupt and shameless the media is,” Trump said in the statement. “Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the Republicans, in particular President Donald Trump, got caught illegally spying into the Office of the President? All hell would break loose and the electric chair would immediately come out of retirement. The good news is, everybody is talking about not only this atrocity against our Nation, but that the press refuses to even mention the major crime that took place.”