Washington, United States

A highly anticipated report surrounding the investigation into Donald Trump's campaign during the 2016 election, was released by the special counsel John Durham on Monday (May 15). 

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The report looked into the allegations of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Special Counsel John Durham said that the claim was based on flimsy evidence and was seriously flawed. 

The special counsel was appointed in 2019 by then-president Trump's attorney general Bill Barr to review the origins of the Russia probe, and now the conclusion in this new 306-page report marks the end of a four-year probe. 

Among other things, Durham investigated the FBI's handling of the Steele dossier, classified information breaches involving Trump-Russia relations, and alleged CIA malfeasance in its analysis of Russian interference. 

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The report further noted that "neither US law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation." 

US special counsel slams FBI probe of Trump-Russia collusion

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Durham's report also said the FBI and Justice Department had shown double standards in the way they investigated Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, his rival for the 2016 election. 

The report said: "The speed and manner in which the FBI opened and investigated Crossfire Hurricane during the presidential election season based on raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence also reflected a noticeable departure from how it approached prior matters involving possible attempted foreign election interference plans aimed at the Clinton campaign." 

Durham said that "senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities." 

This led investigators to "act without appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a US political campaign and a foreign power," he said. 

The FBI said it has already implemented dozens of corrective actions that have been in place for some time. The FBI said in a statement: "Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented." 

WATCH | Gravitas: Trump proven guilty of sexually abusing a writer 

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Trump's reaction

Trump reacted to the report, saying, "WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe!" 

Trump posted to Truth Social, "In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don’t want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!" 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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