Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) challenged special counsel John Durham during a Wednesday congressional hearing, as Durham defended a recent report he issued that criticized the FBI’s handling of a 2016 investigation into then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
On June 3, 2016, publicist Rob Goldstone emailed Trump Jr., claiming he had incriminating information against then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 rival. Trump Jr. and Goldstone continued to communicate at several points between June 3 and the June 9, 2016, meeting.
“Don Jr. was informed that a Russian official was offering the Trump campaign ’very high-level and sensitive information‘ that would be incriminating of Hillary Clinton and was part of ’Russia and its government support of Mr. Trump.' Are you aware of that?” Schiff asked Durham.
“People get phone calls all the time from individuals who claim to have information like that,” Durham replied.
“Really? The son of a presidential candidate gets calls all the time from a foreign government offering dirt on their opponent? Is that what you’re saying?” Schiff replied.
“I don’t think this is unique in your experience,” Durham responded.
Durham’s comment may have been in reference to an incident in which Schiff spoke with Russian prank callers who posed as Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Andriy Parubiy and claimed to have compromising photos of Trump in a state of undress. A spokesperson for Schiff’s office confirmed the prank call did occur and said they notified law enforcement personnel before and after the call.
Trump Tower Meeting
As Durham and Schiff continued to discuss the controversial 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Durham noted that while incriminating information was offered to the Trump team ahead of the meeting, that information never materialized during the actual meeting.“I’m not trying to diminish it at all, but I think the more complete story is that [Trump Jr. met with Veselnitskaya] and it was a ruse and they didn’t talk about Mrs. Clinton,” Durham said Wednesday.
“It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting,” Trump Jr. said in a 2017 statement.
Durham: Meeting ‘Not Illegal’
Schiff pushed back after Durham described the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Veselnitskaya as a “ruse.”“You think it’s insignificant that he had a secret meeting with a Russian delegation for the purpose of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton? And the only disappointment expressed in the meeting was that the dirt they got wasn’t better. You don’t think that’s significant?” Schiff asked.
Durham replied to Schiff saying Trump Jr.’s decision to take the meeting was “ill-advised” but “it was not illegal.”
“Well, it is illegal to conspire to get incriminating opposition research from a hostile government that is of financial value to a campaign. Wouldn’t that violate campaign laws?” Schiff asked.
“I don’t know all those facts to be true,” Durham replied.
Whether or not a political campaign can receive opposition research from a foreign entity is a subject of legal debate.