John Durham (L) was sworn in as the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven, Conn., on Feb. 22, 2018. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut)

Durham’s New ‘Spygate’ Arena: The Courtroom?

By Brian Cates

Commentary

Investigative reporter John Solomon revealed April 17 on Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that his sources are saying a “handful” of indictments related to the FBI’s handling of its 2016 investigation into the Trump campaign is coming.

One thing I’ve learned from following all the twists and turns of the ever-expanding “Spygate” scandal is that Solomon has excellent sources. He’s often been the first to reveal things from his sources that were later found to be accurate.

In response to host Lou Dobbs’s reminder that we’re four years into uncovering evidence about what these plotters did in their attempt to take down a president, and yet not one person has been held accountable, Solomon replied:

“I will say this: There is some fairly significant evidence at this very moment, this week, the last couple of weeks alone, that there is some criminal investigative activity that I think will result in some actions coming out.

“So it’s not going to be a lot; don’t expect 10 or 12 indictments, but there could be a handful of indictments and much more information.”

Attorney General William Barr has stated several times that he expects U.S. Attorney John Durham and the team of U.S. attorneys he’s leading in probes of the various facets of the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation to begin wrapping up their investigative work sometime in “late spring or early summer.”

If what Solomon’s sources are telling him is true, it suggests we’re about to see the story of the Spygate scandal shift to a completely different arena.

No Speculation Allowed

For the past four years, the Spygate scandal has mostly played out in the arenas of the news media and Congress.

For almost three and a half years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was reticent to publicly speak about it until DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz had completed his Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuse report and publicly released it in December 2019.

Since neither the Congress nor the news media conduct real criminal investigations, that left them free to engage in endless speculations and—in some notorious instances—outright fake news.

That will change if there are indictments, because the venue then moves from the realm of the speculation and propaganda to a place where every single assertion is challenged and must be supported by concrete evidence in a courtroom.

The key fact that people will need to grasp soon is that a courtroom isn’t a newspaper editorial, or a panel of talking heads on TV.

U.S. attorneys prosecuting criminal cases in a courtroom are in a place that has a very different set of rules. There can be no speculation, no theorizing, no connecting the dots. You can’t “know” or “suspect” what the defendant supposedly did. In a courtroom facing a defense team, you have to prove what they did. You have to have evidence to demonstrate what they did, or you won’t get a conviction.

I know my role, and I know where my limitations are. I take what’s publicly available and I fill in the gaps. Do you know who doesn’t do that, who isn’t even allowed to do that, or to speculate?

This guy:

I believe you’re about to see some of the most experienced and clever and slipperiest former law enforcement and intelligence figures to ever have inhabited Washington to be charged with crimes and put on trial.

I’m well aware that many people are extremely unhappy and frustrated that it took as long as it did to get to this point. It couldn’t be helped. The professionals had to be allowed to do their work quietly, out of sight, and most importantly: with absolute thoroughness.

Brian Cates is a writer based in South Texas and author of “Nobody Asked For My Opinion … But Here It Is Anyway!” He can be reached on Twitter @drawandstrike.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.