Appointment of Special Counsel

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, just as I came to the floor, I saw an announcement by the Attorney General of the United States that he was appointing U.S. Attorney Durham as a special counsel under the same provisions under which Robert Mueller was appointed as a special counsel. While, ordinarily, I am no fan of special counsel appointments, I think this one is important for a very simple reason.

With the election of a new administration and the peaceful transfer of power anticipated on January 20, it is important to the country that the Durham investigation--wherever it may lead--be concluded in a nonpolitical and nonpartisan fashion and that, with whatever is disclosed about the efforts made at the FBI under the direction of Mr. Comey--under his leadership--and the actions of his subordinates at the FBI, it is important to the country and to the ongoing reputation of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the facts be known and not be swept under the rug.

So I congratulate the Attorney General for making that appointment, which ensures that the public, the American people, will finally learn what the facts are and not have them filtered through the media, which, unfortunately, has taken on some of the partisan polarization that is reflective of our larger society in a way that, I think, has prevented the facts from being fully known.

Inspector General Horowitz, at the Department of Justice, has done a great service in his investigations, but the Durham investigation is, perhaps, the single most important investigation being conducted and one that, I hope, when it is concluded, will once again help to restore public confidence in those great American institutions known as the Department of Justice and the FBI.

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