Attorney General Garland says Durham should finish report 'relatively soon'

Attorney General Merrick Garland told Congress that he expects Special Counsel John Durham to present his report on possible misconduct in the Trump-Russia probe "relatively soon." 

The report update came Tuesday after Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked Garland during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee budget hearing about why Michael Sussmann, an attorney for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, reportedly had a badge to access the FBI's headquarters.

"On the particular question about Sussman, I think we're going to have to wait until Mr. Durham finishes his report, which should be relatively soon," Garland responded.

"I certainly don't in any way want to interfere," Garland also said. "And he's the one who would know the answer to that. On the more general question, I can certainly ask my team to look into how lawyers have special badges."

Durham started his probe about the FBI's investigation into Russia's 2016 presidential election interference in 2019, and he was appointed special counsel over the matter in 2020. His investigation later resulted in the criminal trials of Sussmann and Steele dossier source Igor Danchenko, but neither was found guilty over their roles in the scandal.

In Durham's first case — the only other one besides the two above-mentioned trials — he obtained a guilty plea from an FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, for changing an email regarding former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The case ended with a sentence of probation.