John Durham Steps Down As U.S. Attorney, But Still Remains Special Counsel

John Durham has announced that he is resigning as the U.S. attorney for the state of Connecticut, but will stay on as the special counsel as he continues to review and investigate the origins of the Russia probe into former President Donald Trump.

“My career has been as fulfilling as I could ever have imagined when I graduated from law school way back in 1975. Much of that fulfillment has come from all the people with whom I’ve been blessed to share this workplace, and in our partner law enforcement agencies,” Durham stated on Friday. “My love and respect for this Office and the vitally important work done here have never diminished. It has been a tremendous honor to serve as U.S. Attorney, and as a career prosecutor before that, and I will sorely miss it.”

via Washington Examiner:

Durham’s resignation is effective midnight Sunday.

The website for DOJ’s special counsel’s office notes that Durham is leading it, and it now lists him as running the investigation out of the main Justice Department building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Dena Iverson, the principal deputy director for the DOJ’s office of public affairs, confirmed with the Washington Examiner that Durham will still remain in his special counsel role.

Attorney General William Barr quietly appointed Durham to be special counsel in October after first assigning him to the task in May 2019, providing him extra protections from a new administration seeking to cut short his work. Republican allies of Trump lauded the criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation, while some Democrats and national security veterans panned it as being tainted by politics.

In a move that is typical with incoming administrations, President Biden asked all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys for their resignations, with Durham being asked to step down as U.S. attorney but to stay on as special counsel.

Here’s to hoping that Durham is able to conduct a thorough investigation that provides the answers that we have all been dying to know about how this probe into former President Trump got started.

Hopefully, those who were involved in this matter, if they committed acts of wrongdoing, will be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice if possible.