Special Counsel Archives - The Florida Capital Star

Senators Want to Know Why Former FBI Officials Refused to Cooperate With Durham Investigation

May 25, 2023 M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) want Special Counsel John Durham to explain why former high-level government officials refused to cooperate with his investigation exposing the FBI for its many failures in the bogus Trump-Russia collusion probe.

Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Johnson, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent Durham a letter Tuesday asking why former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division Peter Strzok declined to fully cooperate.

Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Investigate Classified Biden Documents

January 12, 2023 Just the News

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the classified documents from Joe Biden’s time as vice president.

He said he initially appointed U.S. Attorney John Lausch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, to conduct the initial investigation, but because Lausch is retiring, a different special counsel needed to be appointed.

GOP Rep. Greene Says Kevin McCarthy, House GOP Will Defund Special Counsel Investigating Trump

November 20, 2022November 20, 2022 Just the News

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday said that current House Minority Leader and likely next House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would deny funding to the Department of Justice special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump.

In a Tweet detailing the plan, Greene insisted McCarthy would invoke the Holman rule, a procedural measure by which the House may adjust appropriations legislation to reduce the salary of or fire specific government employees. They may also use it to cut specific programs.

AG Merrick Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Oversee Trump Investigations

November 20, 2022November 19, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Friday that he is appointing a special counsel to oversee the federal criminal investigations into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents.

This action comes days after Republicans—who plan to investigate the grossly political Justice Department—won the House of Representatives, and over a week after Joe Biden told reporters that his administration will make sure Trump “will not take power if he does run.”

Support Grows Among Republicans for Naming a Special Counsel to Investigate Hunter Biden

April 11, 2022April 10, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

Nearly 100 House Republicans are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals, saying they had the hallmarks of an influence peddling scandal.

The letter led by Reps. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the chair of the House GOP Study Committee, comes as the U.S. attorney in Delaware enters his third year investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes, foreign lobbying and money movements.

In all, 95 House GOP members signed the letter.

Judge in Case of Anti-Trump Mudslinger is Married to Attorney for Ex-FBI Lawyer Lisa Page

September 21, 2021 Florida Capital Star Staff

Last week, the special counsel appointed to oversee the probe into the FBI’s investigation of former president Donald Trump indicted Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Republicans and Trump allies are optimistic about the latest development in John Durham’s investigation but are still concerned that Attorney General Merrick Garland might halt the investigation to protect allies and even the president himself.

FBI notes appear to suggest that as vice president, Joe Biden played a role in the Democratic Party project to smear Trump as a Russian asset by raising the obscure, disused, 18th century statute the Logan Act as a possible vehicle for prosecuting Michael Flynn for speaking with the Russian ambassador to Washington — even after FBI case agents had cleared Trump’s incoming national security adviser of wrongdoing.

And now Republicans are raising concerns that the judge appointed to the Sussmann case has too many conflicts of interest to preside over it fairly.

Wisconsin Office of Special Counsel Tells State Election Commission to Prevent Evidence Destruction

September 11, 2021September 11, 2021 Florida Capital Star Staff

Special Counsel and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman is attempting to prevent the potential destruction of evidence pertaining to the 2020 presidential election in the state.

Gableman reminded the Wisconsin Election Commission via letter of its duty to prevent the tampering and destruction of evidence.

“I hereby request that you and your office preserve any and all records and evidence […] including but not limited to information retained on any and all voting machine,” including “metadata, router information, and/or access logs,” he wrote.