Durham Report Makes a Strong Case for FBI Overhaul: FBI Veteran

Marc Ruskin, retired FBI Special Agent and author of "The Pretender," in New York on Oct. 4, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

The flaws revealed in the Durham report will add weight to the arguments of those advocating for a “real reform” in the FBI, said retired longtime Bureau agent Marc Ruskin.

The 306-page report, released on Monday by special counsel John Durham, concluded that the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia demonstrated a “lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an over-willingness to rely on information from individuals connected to political opponents.”

As one example, Durham pointed to the 2015 opposition research book “Clinton Cash,” which only prompted the FBI headquarters to start a preliminary investigation. By contrast, the agency “immediately opened” what eventually became known as Crossfire Hurricane as a full-scale probe, despite it being “similarly predicated on unvetted hearsay information.”

What’s abnormal about Crossfire Hurricane, according to Ruskin, is the fact that it was run directly by upper-level leadership as opposed to middle managers.

“It was was an investigation run by upper management FBI managers out of FBI headquarters, which is highly unusual,” Ruskin, who has been with the Bureau for 27 years, said Monday in an interview with EpochTV’s “Crossroads“ program.

“Typically, an FBI investigation is run in the field by a field office and is overseen or supervised by headquarters, but not run directly,” Ruskin told host Joshua Phillips. “So it was an unusual case.”

“What Durham has essentially pointed out now in his report is that it appears to have been based on political motivations and with ideology, rather than what is typical for the FBI,” he continued. “What’s typical for a national police in a free and independent nation is for the investigation to be free of politics and to be objective, and not be one in a political manner.”

When asked about the potential impact of the Durham report, Ruskin said the report gives substance to the argument that the FBI “needs to be brought back on track.”

“Now we see a lot of field agents who have become whistleblowers because they have been disturbed by what they’ve seen going on within the organization which they cherish, and what’s happening to the reputation of the organization as a result of the bad acts of a few bad apples,” he said.

FBI Reforms

In response to the flaws identified in the Durham report, the FBI said on Monday that it had “already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time.”

These improvements included: installing more rigorous requirements for applying for surveillance, requiring personnel training for surveillance applications, updating agency guidelines on vetting confidential human resources, requiring additional approval for opening “sensitive” investigative measures, and expanding its internal oversight and auditing programs.

“Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,” the Bureau said.

Ruskin remains unimpressed by the FBI’s response, pointing to a report by Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz, who stated he does “not have confidence” that the FBI complied with legal steps in applying for a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

“Look at Michael Horowitz, the inspector general of the DOJ just recently criticized the Bureau for continued failure to institute appropriate safeguards with regard to FISA warrants and intercepts,” Ruskin said. “So the perception that the changes have already been initiated is really not correct, even by DOJ standards.”

“The report will give added weight to the arguments of those lawmakers who wish to see real significant reforms implemented at the Bureau,” he added. “The bureau needs a director who really knows how the bureau functions from the inside, [someone] who can institute significant meaningful reforms to bring the bureau back in line with the Bill of Rights, which its agents are sworn to uphold.”

While those like Ruskin see the possibility of bringing the FBI back on track through reforms, some Republicans advocate for its abolishment, arguing that the agency has become too corrupted to be saved.

“Enough is enough. Root out the corruption and shut down the FBI,” Vivek Ramaswamy, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also demanded that the FBI be defunded and its agents criminally indicted for their involvement in “the weaponization of the FBI against President Trump.”

“I think we have to deauthorize, defang, and defund many of these authorities and entities and different task forces that actually converted the just and righteous act of protecting our country with the desire to have a particular political candidate win or lose,” the congressman said.

Meanwhile, Trump reacted to the Durham report by saying it proves the existence of a plot on the part of his political opponents to interfere in the 2016 election, while calling for congressional action.

“The Durham Report spells out in great detail the Democrat Hoax that was perpetrated upon me and the American people,” Trump, who is steadily increasing his lead over his rivals in the 2024 Republican primary contest, wrote on Truth Social.

“This totally illegal act had a huge impact on the election,” the former president added, describing it as the “Crime of the Century.”