The FBI responded to special counsel John Durham’s condemnation of its actions in the investigation of the supposed links between Russia and former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign by saying it was doing better these days.

"The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented," the bureau said in a statement Monday.

"This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect," it added.

Statement on Report by Special Counsel John Durhamhttps://t.co/lcow0ea3mG pic.twitter.com/T4vXqoOMrp

— FBI (@FBI) May 15, 2023

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York said an apology was not enough and those who launched the investigation that scarred American political life must be held accountable.

“The long-awaited Durham Report confirmed what the American people already know; that individuals at the highest levels of government attempted to overthrow democracy when they illegally weaponized the federal government against Donald J. Trump,” Stefanik said in a statement.

“This criminal abuse of power went all the way up to the Oval Office where President Obama and then Vice-President Joe Biden were in on it from the very beginning," she said. "This was an unlawful attempt by the politicized FBI and DOJ to meddle in our elections.

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“The entire false smear was manufactured and paid for by political opponents of Donald Trump and perpetrated by the Left’s salivating mainstream media stenographers. Crossfire Hurricane was nothing more than an illegal, unlawful, and unAmerican abuse of power. I am more committed than ever to ensuring that those involved are held accountable and face criminal prosecution."

My full statement on the Durham Report pic.twitter.com/a3UvJR6XAj

— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) May 15, 2023

Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona went further.

“John Durham concluded that ‘neither U.S. nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion…' This is what weaponized govt. looks like and why I seek to defund the FBI/DOJ. Imagine what else they are doing too,” he tweeted.

John Durham concluded that “neither U.S. nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion..."

This is what weaponized govt. looks like and why I seek to defund the FBI/DOJ.

Imagine what else they are doing too. https://t.co/r181nrd9rP

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 15, 2023

Biggs later added five words: “Defund and dismantle the FBI.”

Defund and dismantle the FBI.

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 15, 2023

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said the report revealed "an effort to use use a powerful, long-respected, federal law-enforcement agency to render a presidential candidate unelectable — entirely in the absence of any valid, good-faith basis for doing so.”

"When federal law-enforcement agencies can undertake such a brazen effort to frame someone they don’t like to throw the outcome of an election—and then remain largely protected for seven years thereafter—popular sovereignty in America is under serious attack," he wrote.

3. But this was SO MUCH WORSE than that. It was an effort to use use a powerful, long-respected, federal law-enforcement agency to render a presidential candidate unelectable—entirely in the absence of any valid, good-faith basis for doing so.

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 15, 2023

7. Democrats and Republicans should be equally offended by this breathtakingly corrupt act.

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 15, 2023

Durham determined that the Department of Justice and the FBI lacked the necessary evidence to launch their 2016 investigation into the Trump campaign -- called “Crossfire Hurricane” -- over alleged collusion with Russia.

“Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,” said the report, which the DOJ released Monday.

“Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities,” it said.

“This information in part triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,” the report said, referring to the Robert Mueller probe that found no collusion between the campaign and Russia.

"In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump’s political opponents," it said.

Durham Report by The Western Journal

The FBI’s conduct had been excoriated in a 2019 report by the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General but not to the extent of Durham's findings.

In speaking of that report, Inspector General Michael Horowitz decried a “failure” of the FBI’s “entire chain of command” in its handling of the investigation.

Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in December 2019 concerning the  IG report that said while the FBI followed proper protocol in opening Crossfire Hurricane, FBI and DOJ officials failed in multiple instances to adhere to department policy in obtaining a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

“We are deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked investigative teams; on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations; after the matter had been briefed to the highest levels within the FBI; even though the information sought through the use of FISA authority related so closely to an ongoing presidential campaign; and even though those involved with the investigation knew that their actions were likely to be subjected to close scrutiny,” Horowitz said in his opening statement.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.