Special counsel Robert Mueller
Then, in 2019, there was Special Counsel John Durham, who was investigating the origins of the Mueller investigation and the original FBI probe into then-candidate Donald Trump and his campaign.
Soon, it was 2022, and Special Counsel Jack Smith began investigating then-former President Trump for his alleged improper retention of classified records held at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after his presidency. Smith also began investigating events surrounding the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Next up, in 2023, Special Counsel Robert Hur was appointed and began investigating now-former President Joe Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records, which occurred during his vice presidency as part of the Obama administration.
Later in 2023, David Weiss, who had served as U.S. attorney in Delaware and had been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018, was appointed special counsel to continue his yearslong investigation into the now-former first son.
At this point, those investigations have all come to their resolutions: Mueller, in 2019, found there was no collusion; Durham, in 2022, found that the FBI ignored "clear warning signs" of a Hillary Clinton-led plan to inaccurately tie her opponent to Russia using politically funded and uncorroborated opposition research; Smith, in 2022, charged Trump but had those charges tossed; Hur, in 2023, opted against charging Biden; Weiss, in 2023, charged Hunter Biden, who was convicted and later pardoned by his father.
But the curiosity surrounding those investigations that dominated headlines for the better part of a decade remains, largely because of so many loose ends and the prevalence of unanswered questions.
Former FBI Director James Comey (Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Comey on Thursday posted to Instagram an image of seashells on the beach arranged to show "86 47" with the caption, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."
Some interpreted it as a coded message, with "86" being slang for "get rid of" and "47" referring to Trump, who is the 47th president.
TRUMP SAYS COMEY KNEW 'ASSASSINATION' MEANING BEHIND DELETED SOCIAL MEDIA POST
Comey later deleted the post and wrote a message that said, "I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."
Comey was the FBI director who, in 2016, allowed the opening of the bureau’s original Trump-Russia investigation, known inside the FBI as "Crossfire Hurricane." Trump fired Comey in May 2017. Days later, Mueller was appointed as special counsel to take over that investigation, thus beginning the string of special counsels.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton are shown after their presidential debate on Sept. 26, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
By January 2017, Comey had notified Trump of a dossier, known as the Steele dossier, that contained salacious and unverified allegations about Trump’s purported coordination with the Russian government, a key document prompting the opening of the probe.
The dossier was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer, and commissioned by Fusion GPS. Clinton's presidential campaign hired Fusion GPS during the 2016 election cycle.
It was eventually determined that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded the dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie.
Durham, in his report, said the FBI, led by Comey, "failed to act on what should have been – when combined with other incontrovertible facts – a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election."
But that intelligence referral document is just one of many that tells the real story behind the investigation that clouded the first Trump administration.
And Trump has taken steps to ensure the American public has full access to all the documents.
Trump, in late March, signed an executive order directing the FBI to immediately declassify files concerning the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
David Weiss, inset; former President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden (Fox News)
Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea. The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16, 2024, but his father, then-President Biden, pardoned him on all charges in December 2024.
HUNTER BIDEN: A LOOK AT HOW THE SAGA SPANNING OVER 6 YEARS UNFOLDED
Trump alleged in a Truth Social post in March that former President Biden's pardons were "void" due to the "fact that they were done by Autopen."
"The 'Pardons' that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen," Trump wrote.
"In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime," Trump added.
Weiss, in his final report, blasted then-President Biden's characterizations of the probe into Hunter Biden, which Weiss said were "wrong" and "unfairly" maligned Justice Department officials. He also said the presidential pardon made it "inappropriate" for him to discuss whether any additional charges against the first son were warranted.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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