Investigative journalist John Solomon clarified an update he reported last week on U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the Russia investigation.
During an interview with Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs, Solomon said that over “this week — the last couple weeks … some criminal investigative activity” indicated there “could be a handful of indictments and much more information.” Dobbs’s verified Twitter account promoted Solomon’s reporting as him saying indictments could come last week. A Monday blog post on Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett’s personal website said, “Russia Spygate Indictments Coming ‘This Week.’” That piece was later shared on Twitter by President Trump.
Solomon, who recently founded a new outlet called JustTheNews.com, put out a statement Wednesday on Twitter to respond to the reaction he was was seeing, stressing he never said indictments are imminent.
“Because I care about accuracy I want to make clear that what I intended to say, and actually said on air, was that my reporting for the week ending last Friday (‘this week’) had uncovered activities consistent with … building criminal cases that could lead to a small number of indictments. I did not intend to, and didn’t actually, say indictments were coming this week. Only prosecutors know such timing and I have no indication indictments are coming this week,” he tweeted. “My reporting indicates there is clear evidence that criminal cases are being built that could lead to future indictments or plea deals. Will keep on reporting what I know.”
His tweets come one day after Attorney General William Barr tamped down expectations for indictments coming anytime soon during an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Barr said the release of Durham’s investigation was “not imminent” and noted the Justice Department will update the public “as soon as we feel we have something that we are confident to tell the people about.”
Barr picked Durham, the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to conduct a review of potential misconduct by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials during the investigation into whether the Trump campaign knowingly conspired with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. Durham is reportedly focused on former CIA Director John Brennan, but there have been no confirmed reports or official statements about indictments in the investigation.
Solomon faced criticism last year when his reporting on Ukraine for the Hill got swept up into the impeachment investigation and became subject to a review that found he “failed” to identify “important details about key Ukrainian sources.”
