Alexander Downer Exposes FBI's Deceit in Opening Russia Investigation

A few days ago, our friend Stephen McIntyre, one of the original Russiagate investigators, sent a tweet to revisit a question that many of us have pondered for years but which has never been fully resolved. As a result, we finally now have the answer. That is because, in response to McIntyre’s tweet, the key figure has come forward to confirm what many of us have suspected all along.

McIntyre's tweet highlighted that, according to the FBI, it was Australian diplomat Alexander Downer who initiated the inception of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. However, the narratives surrounding this event differ significantly between Downer's account in Special Counsel John Durham’s report and the FBI's version. Downer has now stepped forward to affirm Durham's version with a three-word tweet: “Durham is right”. This development carries substantial implications for the entire Russiagate saga, particularly regarding its fraudulent origins.

Downer’s confirmation represents a significant breakthrough in unraveling the final puzzle pieces of Russiagate, not necessarily because the information is new or surprising, but rather because it confirms that the FBI was aware from the outset that its justification for initiating the Trump-Russia investigation was phony.

The two competing versions of the Crossfire Hurricane origin story can be summarized as follows: According to the FBI, Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos met with Australia’s ambassador in London, Alexander Downer, and Downer’s assistant, Erika Thompson. During this meeting, Papadopoulos is supposed to have “suggested the Trump team had received some kind of suggestion” that Russia might assist the Trump campaign by anonymously releasing damaging information about Hillary Clinton prior to the 2016 election.

Robert Mueller went one step further, claiming that what Papadopoulos had talked about was “that the Russian government had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails.”

Downer’s account, as detailed in the Durham report, states, “Papadopoulos made no mention of Clinton emails, dirt or any specific approach by the Russian government to the Trump campaign team with an offer or suggestion of providing assistance. Rather, Downer's recollection was that Papadopoulos simply stated "the Russians have information" and that was all.”

Notably, the day before Papadopoulos met with Downer and Thompson, Andrew Napolitano shared a nearly identical account on Fox News, raising the distinct possibility that Papadopoulos was simply reiterating what he had heard on TV, as opposed to any secret plot. In fact, we would argue that this is almost certainly what occurred: Papadopoulos enthusiastically repeated a story he had encountered on Fox News.

So, how did everything get blown out of proportion? This is where Downer’s confirmation of Durham’s account comes into play and why it is so important.

According to the Durham report, the FBI utilized a cherry-picked portion of a report written by Thompson regarding their meeting with Papadopoulos to justify the initiation of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia. Thompson's report, which was a standard post-meeting document, was submitted to the Australian government in Canberra shortly after Thompson and Downer met with Papadopoulos on May 10, 2016.

The snippet relied on by the FBI stated:

“[Papadopoulos] commented that the Clintons had "a lot of baggage" and suggested the Trump team had plenty of material to use in its campaign. He also suggested the Trump team had received some kind of suggestion from Russia that it could assist this process with the anonymous release of information during the campaign that would be damaging to Mrs[.] Clinton (and President Obama). It was unclear whether he or the Russians were referring to material acquired publicly of [sic] through other means. It was also unclear how Mr[.] Trump's team reacted to the offer. We note the Trump team's reaction could, in the end, have little bearing of [sic] what Russia decides to do, with or without Mr[.] Trump's cooperation.”

In late July 2016, Downer gave the meeting report, which included the cherry-picked snippet, to the U.S. Embassy in London after hearing Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook on CNN assert that Russia had hacked the DNC to assist Trump. As we later found out, the so-called experts Mook supposedly relied on in making his claim were Clinton campaign operatives, such as Christopher Steele. Although Downer could not have known this, his actions in going to the U.S. Embassy with two-and-a-half-month-old meeting notes were highly unusual. Perhaps he was caught in the moment of widespread hysteria. Or perhaps he was cajoled into doing what he did. Be that as it may, to the extent that he could be criticized for acting prematurely or misunderstanding the situation, he promptly clarified the matter.

The reason for this is that after the FBI initiated its Crossfire Hurricane investigation on July 31, 2016, allegedly based on the snippet from Thompson, FBI chief investigator Peter Strzok and his associate Joe Pientka traveled to London to interview Downer and Thompson regarding their encounter with Papadopoulos. Setting aside the fact that an honest investigator would have waited to speak with the witnesses before launching a comprehensive investigation into a presidential campaign, it is what Downer conveyed to Strzok—now confirmed—that demonstrates the entire investigation was founded on a deliberate misunderstanding, in other words, a lie.

Downer told Strzok that the substance of the snippet that Thompson had drafted was “purposely vague” because “Papadopoulos left a number of things unexplained.” Downer also clarified that Papadopoulos “did not say he had direct contact with the Russians.” Downer further said that “there were reasons to be unsure about what to make of the information from Papadopoulos,” and that he “did not get the sense Papadopoulos was the middle-man to coordinate with the Russians.”

Notably, this is not what Downer later told Durham with the benefit of hindsight, it is what Downer told Strzok at the time.

Downer later informed Durham that he would have characterized the statements made by Papadopoulos differently than Thompson did in the snippet relied on by the FBI. It is unclear to what extent Downer communicated this to Strzok in August 2016, but based on the available information, it should have been evident to Strzok that the snippet should not under any circumstances have been taken at face value.

While the report of Strzok’s meeting with Downer remains under lock and key, based on Durham's statements, we know that, contrary to Thompson’s vague notes, Downer made it clear to Strzok that Trump's team had not received any offers from Russia, at least not that anyone was aware of, and Papadopoulos did not claim or suggest that they had received any offers.

What is more, even if Strzok, for whatever reason, had taken Thompson’s loosely worded meeting report at face value, it clearly indicated that any information the Russians possessed might have been publicly available. In other words, based on the actual wording in the snippet that the FBI used to initiate Crossfire Hurricane, whatever Papadopoulos may have meant could have been public knowledge—such as Napolitano’s comments on Fox News. This puts to rest the FBI’s fraudulent narrative that the Papadopoulos-Downer meeting had something to do with Clinton’s emails, a claim that both men have always strenuously denied.

But it gets worse. While in London, Strzok confessed to Pientka and the FBI’s London representative that “there's nothing to this, but we have to run it to ground.”

Then, shortly after the London trip, Pientka, who is referred to as "Supervisory Special Agent-1" in Durham’s report, had the following text exchange with the FBI’s London representative:

FBI's Assistant Legal Attache in London: “Dude, are we telling them [British Intelligence Service-1] everything we know, or is there more to this?”

Pientka: “That’s all we have. Not holding anything back.”

FBI's Legal Attache in London: “Damn that’s thin.”

Pientka: “I know. It sucks.”

British Intelligence officials also told the FBI’s Legal Attache in London that they “could not believe the Papadopoulos bar conversation was all there was” and suggested that the FBI should, as a first step, talk to Papadopoulos.

But Strzok had different plans. Immediately following his trip to London, during which Downer made it abundantly clear that Papadopoulos had said nothing of significant importance and that the entire matter was likely a misunderstanding, Strzok initiated full investigations into three additional members of the Trump campaign team: Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn.

That Downer has now confirmed Durham’s version of events is highly significant because it proves that Strzok was fully aware that the snippet from Thompson’s report should not have been relied upon. Downer explicitly informed Strzok that the snippet was phrased loosely and that Papadopoulos had said nothing inappropriate. Downer, who witnessed the events firsthand, also disagreed with how the snippet was worded.

To summarize, FBI leadership selectively chose a vaguely worded paragraph from a meeting report to initiate an enterprise investigation into the Trump campaign regarding alleged collusion with Russia. A few days later, when Downer, the principal witness to the meeting, informed the FBI that the entire situation was essentially much ado about nothing, his statement was disregarded.

We all remember that when Strzok's interview notes with Michael Flynn were finally released, they proved that Flynn had told the truth and that the entire case against him was fabricated. When Strzok's interview notes with Downer are eventually released, we will discover the same: that Downer told the truth and that the initiation of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was based on a big, fat lie.

A Personal Note: The person who prompted Alexander Downer to finally clear things up, Runyonesque, is currently facing significant medical challenges and is raising funds to cover treatment costs. If you'd like to support, please consider donating.