5 findings of the Durham Report: No criminal misconduct, 'confirmation bias'
4. While misconduct occurred, there is not enough evidence to file criminal charges
The report began by noting that Durham’s office had “concluded its investigation into whether ‘any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump.’” It stressed that “the law does not always make a person’s bad judgment, even horribly bad judgment, standing alone, a crime.”
“Nor does the law criminalize all unseemly or unethical conduct that political campaigns might undertake for financial advantage, absent a violation of a particular federal criminal statute. Finally, in almost all cases, the government is required to prove a person’s actual criminal intent — not mere negligence or recklessness — before that person’s fellow citizens can lawfully find him or her guilty of a crime.”
The document cited “adherence to these principles” as the reason why “conduct deserving of censure or disciplinary action did not lead the Office to seek criminal charges.” It added, “If this report and the outcome of the Special Counsel’s investigation leave some with the impression that injustices or misconduct have gone unaddressed, it is not because the Office concluded that no such injustices or misconduct occurred.”
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“It is, rather, because not every injustice or transgression amounts to a criminal offense, and criminal prosecutors are tasked exclusively with investigating and prosecuting violations of U.S. criminal laws,” Durham declared. “And even where prosecutors believe a crime occurred based on all of the facts and information they have gathered, it is their duty only to bring criminal charges when the evidence that the government reasonably believes is admissible in court proves the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
