Gaetz Blasts Durham For Being ‘Part Of The Coverup’

So much more could have come from the probe by Special Counsel John Durham, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made certain on Wednesday to voice his displeasure with the results.

Speaking directly to Durham during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Gaetz alleged that the attorney did not properly pursue critical leads in the Russia collusion hoax. Gaetz noted Durham’s assertion that the FBI did not fully cooperate.

The GOP representative also observed there was not much of an effort to get key witnesses before a grand jury. Gaetz named several players who did not work with the investigation and pointedly questioned why they were not forced to testify.

Figures at the bottom of the hoax, according to Gaetz, were let off the hook. “It’s kind of laughable,” he charged. “It seems like more than disappointment. It seems like you weren’t really trying to expose the true core of corruption that you were trying to.”

Durham defended his actions, saying that his team “pursued the facts as best we could.” That did not satisfy the Florida Republican in the slightest.

Gaetz asked, “Have you ever heard of the Washington Generals? The team that basically gets paid to show up and lose…And I’m kind of wondering…It’s not in your report, it’s the omissions.”

He continued by proclaiming that Durham and his report “let the country down.” Gaetz called the special counsel a “barrier” to the transparency and accountability that the nation needs.

Durham testily responded, “I don’t know if you’ve ever investigated a crime —”

Gaetz was undeterred, declaring “I don’t know that you have. What about Andy McCabe, did you charge him?” McCabe is the former FBI official who was fired in 2018 and recently tried to discredit the Durham Report. 

Durham defended his lack of action by asserting that he is bound by the Constitution to only charge people based on evidence gathered. Still, Gaetz stayed on the attack.

Cutting off Durham before his statement was through, the Republican charged that he “didn’t investigate the Mueller team wiping their phones. And you won’t tell us who gave the order because you’re protecting those people.”

Though the Durham Report exposed even more clearly the foolishness of the Russia collusion conspiracy theory, it did not go nearly far enough in assigning blame to the individuals behind it. For that, Gaetz is correct in expressing his disappointment that more was not accomplished.