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🧵 DURHAM BOMBSHELL: FBI initiated Crossfire Hurricane upon receiving unverified intelligence from Australia, leading to Biggest Lie in US Political History

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Former-High Commissioner Alexander Downer and played a critical role in triggering the investigation into alleged connections between the Trump campaign and Russian interference efforts during the 2016 elections.

The release of the long-awaited Durham Investigation highlights Australian Diplomat-I’s pivotal role in sparking the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which gained significant attention and controversy in the political landscape.

Australian Diplomat-I’s meetings with former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in London on three separate occasions in 2016 have come under scrutiny.

The revelation of highlights Australian Diplomat-I’s pivotal role in sparking the Crossfire Hurricane investigation raises questions about the extent of foreign interference with Donald Trump’s 2016 US presidential campaign.

According to an FBI executive, the information provided by Papadopoulos was considered a significant factor in initiating the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

FBI Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson stated that it would have been negligent if the FBI had not opened the investigation.

FBI General Counsel James Baker also expressed the view that a swift investigation is beneficial for oversight and accountability within the FBI and the Department of Justice.

During the OIG review, it was discovered that the National Security Division (NSD) officials were briefed multiple times about the investigation after its initiation in early August 2016.

It is acknowledged by FBI officials that the information regarding Papadopoulos did not originate from Australia's intelligence services, but rather from Alexander Downer and Australian Diplomat-I, who were previously unknown to the FBI personnel handling the information.

Some FBI officials justified the decision to open Crossfire Hurricane based on the belief that the information came from a “trusted partner”, and therefore, it was considered reliable.

While the Counterintelligence Division eventually sought information about Papadopoulos, the OIG review did not find any evidence that, at the time, the FBI assessed the actual reliability of the information provided by the diplomats.

When Crossfire Hurricane was initiated, the FBI had the following pieces of information available only:

1. Publicly accessible information about Papadopoulos's involvement in the campaign as a volunteer foreign policy adviser.

2. Information provided by Australian diplomats, which they obtained from Papadopoulos.

3. Information suggesting Russia's potential interference in the election.

4. Trump's public statements concerning Russia.

5. Media reports that had not been fully verified about potential connections between Trump and Russian businessmen.

Importantly, apart from these sources, the FBI's Counterintelligence Division and Crossfire Hurricane investigators did not possess any intelligence or verified information regarding collusion between Trump or his campaign staff and the Russian government.

The Mueller investigation did not discover any documentary evidence or communication records that would indicate Papadopoulos shared this information with the campaign.

The evidence reviewed by the Office indicates that there were internal discussions among FBI Headquarters executives, including the Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, regarding the decision to initiate Crossfire Hurricane.

These executives unanimously supported opening the investigation without considering anything less than a full investigation into the credibility and basis of Papadopoulos's statements.

The personnel involved in the decision stated that they followed the FBI's governing principles, which require an authorized purpose and an "articulable factual basis" indicating the potential occurrence of federal crimes or national security threats.

However, it appears that the measured approach outlined in the FBI guidelines was not followed in the case of Crossfire Hurricane.

Instead, just three days after receiving analysed information from Australia, Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok authorised and approved the opening of Crossfire Hurricane, triggering a full counterintelligence investigation during a political campaign

before engaging in dialogue with Australia or the Intelligence Community, and without conducting a critical analysis of the information or assessing potential risks.

It is worth noting that Strzok's version of events contradicts the FBI's report of the interview conducted with Downer and Australian Diplomat-I, which does not mention Trump's news conference or the missing Clinton emails.

Furthermore, Downer and Australian officials provided the Paragraph Five information to the U.S. Embassy one day before Trump's televised news conference.

The FBI swiftly initiated the Crossfire Hurricane investigation upon receiving unverified intelligence from Australia.

Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok opened the investigation under the direction of Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. It is worth noting that Strzok had displayed “clear animosity towards Trump”.

Surprisingly, the investigation was launched as a full-scale inquiry without ever speaking to the individuals who provided the information. Furthermore, the FBI neglected to conduct a thorough review of its intelligence databases, gather relevant intelligence from other U.S.

intelligence agencies, interview key witnesses, or employ standard analytical tools typically used to evaluate raw intelligence.

If these steps had been taken, as discussed in Sections IV.A.3.b and c, the FBI would have discovered that their own experienced Russia analysts and other personnel at the CIA, NSA, and Department of State had no information implicating Trump's involvement with Russian officials.

Additionally, FBI records generated by Strzok in February and March 2017 revealed that the FBI had no evidence in its possession indicating any contact between members of the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials throughout the campaign.

This rapid and flawed handling of Crossfire Hurricane, based on raw and unverified intelligence, deviated significantly from the FBI's approach to previous cases involving potential foreign interference targeting the Clinton campaign during the election season.

Special Counsel Durham notes the speed of initiating Crossfire Hurricane was of sharp contrast to Strzok's decision-making in the case involving Anthony Weiner's laptop, where the FBI did not take action for over a month to review missing Clinton emails.

Special Counsel Durham noted that the immediate opening of Crossfire Hurricane as a full investigation differs from the careful approach taken in the investigation of the Clinton Foundation and other matters.

On August 2, 2016, two days after opening Crossfire Hurricane, Strzok and Supervisory Special Agent-I met in London with the Alexander Downer and Australian Diplomat-I to assess and clarify exactly what had been said by Papadopoulos in May and provided to the US

government in July.

Read Full Story: modernenquirer.substack.com/p/durham-exclu…

*Former-High Commissioner Alexander Downer and Australian Diplomat-I