Durham: He Talked Alfa Bank. He Declined Crossfire Hurricane.

DOCUMENTED

John H. Durham, 26 March 2018. U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut. U.S. government work.

“Priestap agreed to provide information to the Office concerning matters related to the FBI’s Alfa Bank investigation, but otherwise declined to be interviewed by the Office on matters related to his role in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.” Special Counsel John H. Durham, report, May 12, 2023 (official pagination p. 60 as transcribed on Wikisource; same sentence quoted in a Grassley-Johnson Senate release)

That sentence is in the Durham report. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson quoted it in a May 24, 2023, release about officials who declined or partially declined to cooperate. The Washington Examiner reported the same limited interview and, separately, Durham’s later House testimony that he was disappointed some high-ranking FBI officials would not sit for broader interviews and that “you can’t just subpoena people to make them talk.”

Durham also recorded, from a June 2, 2021, interview on the Alfa-related scope, Priestap saying that people going around him to the “7th Floor” drove him “insane,” with Strzok as the worst offender when Priestap wanted one direction and Strzok and Lisa Page went another. That is Durham’s interview write-up, not a charge.

Declining a voluntary interview is not a crime. Durham did not indict Priestap. Do not invent a conviction from a declined sit-down.

Sources

John H. Durham, Special Counsel report, May 12, 2023. justice.gov/storage/durhamreport.pdf; page image/text: Wikisource p. 60

Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley. “Johnson and Grassley to Durham: Why Did Former FBI Officials Not Cooperate With Your Investigation?” May 24, 2023. grassley.senate.gov

Washington Examiner. “GOP presses Durham on letting Comey and key Trump-Russia figures off the hook.” washingtonexaminer.com

Opinion

The following is commentary by this site. It is not a finding of fact and not a legal conclusion.

Compiler take

Alfa Bank, yes. Crossfire Hurricane, no. The man who opened the case would not sit for Durham on the case. Durham shrugged about subpoenas. That is the cooperation record. Readers can decide what it is worth.