Trump says 'hats off' to Special Counsel Durham, predicts indictments are 'early building blocks'

Former President Trump is touting Special Counsel John Durham's probe, predicting that the early indictments in his yearslong investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe are "just the early building blocks," saying he anticipates the findings are "only going to get deeper and deeper," and that it "all leads back to the Democrats."

During an exclusive interview with Fox News, Trump reacted to Durham’s Thursday indictment of Igor Danchenko— who is believed to be the primary sub-source for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the unverified dossier that served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

The dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign through law firm Perkins Coie.

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Durham on Thursday charged Danchenko with making false statements to the FBI. The charges stemmed from statements he made relating to the sources he used in providing information to an investigative firm in the United Kingdom.

"It really has come out," Trump told Fox News. "In all fairness, while it has taken a long time, hats off to John Durham."

"Hats off, because, it’s coming out, and it is coming out at a level — Durham has come out with things that are absolutely amazing," Trump continued. "We all sort of knew that happened, and now we have facts, and I think they’re only going to get deeper and deeper — and it all leads back to the Democrats, Hillary and the dirty lawyers."

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Trump said Clinton lawyers are "always after Trump" and called it a "disgrace," but he said "people understand that."

"What they did was so illegal, at a level that you’ve rarely seen before," Trump said. "Now, in all fairness, it looks to me like this is just the early building blocks."

Danchenko’s indictment comes after Durham last month indicted Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann for making a false statement. The indictment alleges Sussmann told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016 that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and held a meeting in which he presented data and evidence of a purported secret communications channel between then-candidate Trump and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin. Sussman was working for the Clinton campaign at the time.

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Before being appointed as special counsel in 2020, Durham charged former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith with making a false statement – the first criminal case arising from his probe. Clinesmith was referred for potential prosecution by the Justice Department's inspector general's office, which conducted its own review of the Russia investigation.

Specifically, the inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency. Page has said he was a source for the CIA. The DOJ relied on that assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under FISA. 

Meanwhile, in a court filing dated Oct. 20, Durham revealed his team’s first production of discovery to the defense — which included thousands of documents received "in response to grand jury subpoenas issued to fifteen separate individuals, entities and organizations — including, among others, political organizations, a university, university researchers, an investigative firm, and numerous companies."

Durham on Thursday said the special counsel’s investigation "is ongoing."

"Those are big things that are happening, and what it really shows is what a hoax it was," Trump told Fox News. "What happened here is incredible, going on for years, and we still did more than any administration, just about ever."

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The former president touted his administration amidst the yearslong investigation into whether his first campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election led by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

"We rebuilt our military, we cut taxes — the most ever — and regulations, we’ve done so much," Trump said. "Nobody has done what we’ve done."

Mueller’s investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election.

At the conclusion of Mueller’s probe in 2019, former Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham, who at the time served as the U.S. attorney from Connecticut, to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Russia probe, also known as Crossfire Hurricane, which began in July 2016. Durham was instructed to review that probe through the appointment of Mueller in May 2017.

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The Trump administration moved to declassify dozens of documents, which Trump and allies cast as significant, citing their content as proof that the investigation into Trump and his first campaign was baseless. 

Barr, before leaving the Trump administration in December 2020, tapped Durham as special counsel to continue his investigation through the Biden administration.

In the scope order, Barr stated that Durham "is authorized to investigate 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, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III."

Under U.S. code, the special counsel would produce a "confidential report" and is ordered to "submit to the Attorney General a final report, and such interim reports as he deems appropriate in a form that will permit public dissemination."