U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland over new revelations from Special Counsel Durham’s investigation, including that the 2016 Clinton campaign partnered with tech firms to hack the servers of the White House and Trump Tower in an attempt to promote the false narrative that President Trump was in collusion with Russia.
Senator Hawley wrote, “These shocking revelations show that the 2016 Clinton Campaign was a criminal enterprise involving lawyers, Big Tech, and current Biden Administration officials. The question now is whether anyone will be held accountable.”
“The Clinton Campaign’s criminal enterprise also includes many individuals currently serving in the Biden Administration—and in your personal office. The indictment implicates Jake Sullivan, who currently serves as President Biden’s National Security Adviser. His wife, Margaret Goodlander, currently serves as your counsel in your personal office and is herself close to Hillary Clinton, who attended Sullivan and Goodlander’s wedding. Others have already called for her to be recused from any consideration of the Durham investigation. I am calling on you to set a clear example and instruct Ms. Goodlander, and all of your other employees potentially implicated in the Clinton Campaign, to formally recuse from the Special Counsel’s investigation,” he continued.
Senator Hawley also requested that Attorney General Garland committ to ensuring the independence and integrity of Special Counsel Durham’s investigation and asked if the Department of Justice currently has any investigations open into Hunter Biden, including for his sweetheart deals with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Chinese companies.
Read the full letter here or below.
The Hon. Merrick B. Garland
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Attorney General Garland,
I write with concern over new revelations that the 2016 Clinton campaign partnered with tech firms to hack the servers of the White House and Trump Tower in an attempt to promote the false narrative that President Trump was in collusion with Russia. The Clinton campaign may have engaged in criminal conduct that includes hacking into computer servers and lying to the FBI. These are serious crimes.
On February 11, 2022, Special Counsel Durham filed a motion to inquire into potential conflicts of interest in United States v. Sussmann, a criminal case concerning a Clinton Campaign operative lying to the FBI. In that motion, the Department of Justice disclosed the following findings:
- At the direction of the Clinton Campaign, tech executives exploited their hacked access to non-public and proprietary internet data to establish a false narrative tying then-candidate Trump to Russia.
- This included taking data from Trump Tower, Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
- Michael Sussmann, while serving as an attorney for the Clinton Campaign, lied to the FBI General Counsel and attempted to funnel purported data that alleged a non-existent connection between the Trump Organization and Russia.
- Susmann billed the Clinton Campaign for compiling and disseminating these allegations and regularly conferred with the General Counsel to the Clinton Campaign during the process.
- Tech executives exploited their access to non-public and proprietary internet data to establish a false narrative tying then-candidate Trump to Russia with the intent of pleasing VIPs in the Clinton campaign.
These actions were part of a concerted effort to smear President Trump by promoting the false narrative that he was in collusion with Russia. But Special Counsel Durham concluded in his filing that despite the efforts of Sussman and others to tie President Trump to Russia, “[t]he Special Counsel’s Office has identified no support for these allegations.” Instead, a Department of Justice watchdog found that Department of Justice officials forged records to justify spying on the Trump campaign.
These shocking revelations show that the 2016 Clinton Campaign was a criminal enterprise involving lawyers, Big Tech, and current Biden Administration officials. The question now is whether anyone will be held accountable.
Finally, the Clinton Campaign’s criminal enterprise also includes many individuals currently serving in the Biden Administration—and in your personal office. The indictment implicates Jake Sullivan, who currently serves as President Biden’s National Security Adviser. His wife, Margaret Goodlander, currently serves as your counsel in your personal office and is herself close to Hillary Clinton, who attended Sullivan and Goodlander’s wedding. Others have already called for her to be recused from any consideration of the Durham investigation. I am calling on you to set a clear example and instruct Ms. Goodlander, and all of your other employees potentially implicated in the Clinton Campaign, to formally recuse from the Special Counsel’s investigation.
So that Congress can consider remedial legislation and fulfill its oversight functions, please provide the following information by February 25, 2022:
- Do you commit to ensuring the independence and integrity of the Special Counsel Durham’s investigation?
- Do you commit to ensuring that anyone potentially associated with the 2016 Clinton Campaign is recused from any involvement in the Durham investigation—including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is cited in the indictment, and his wife Margaret Goodlander, currently serving as counsel in your personal office?
- Please provide a complete list of all Department of Justice employees who are recused from the Durham investigation.
- Does the Department of Justice currently have any investigations open into Hunter Biden, including for his sweetheart deals with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Chinese companies?
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
United States Senator