The file
The Priestap File
He ran FBI Counterintelligence. Horowitz says he opened Crossfire Hurricane. He told the Inspector General he skipped a defensive briefing so a target would not change tactics. Handwritten notes in the Flynn file ask whether the goal was truth — or to get him to lie so they could prosecute him or get him fired. Durham says he would talk Alfa Bank and not the opening. This is not a biography. It is the episodes. Facts are cited. Opinion is marked. An OIG memo is not a court. A referral is not an indictment.
Compiled as a critical briefing, in the voice of a packet. Identity: About. Not a court. Not a White House product. No invented quotes, crimes, or convictions. OIG cleared the opening decision of documented bias; it did not clear the FISA record.
OIG · documented
July 31, 2016
Horowitz: AD E.W. “Bill” Priestap opened the case after friendly-foreign-government information. Consensus of senior officials. Not a court. Not dumped again as the lead card below.
The rest of the file
Appointment
December 2015
Bureau press release. Chicago 1998 to AD CI. Attorney. Two master’s degrees. Identity lock.
Judgment call
July 31, 2016
OIG quote: a briefing might change tactics or produce a cover-up. Policy left it to discretion.
Flynn record
January 24, 2017
The notes exist in the Flynn file. Meaning is contested. Not a conviction.
Reporting
May 2018
National Review on the released texts. They briefed Bill. Reporting, not a crime.
Testimony
December 5, 2018
His Senate PDF on Thousand Talents and non-traditional espionage. His words.
Departure
December 2018
Epoch Times quotes the Bureau email. Strider: CI tour ended December 2018.
Reporting
April 23, 2019
Epoch Times on court-ordered written answers. Reporting. Not a crime finding.
Official finding
December 9, 2019
Finding about the opening. Separate FISA errors by others. Not a blanket clearance.
Allegation
August 14, 2020
Graham: whitewashed Steele reliability. Allegation. Not an indictment.
Durham
May 12, 2023
Report p. 60. Grassley quoted it. Not a conviction.
Just the News
April 10, 2025
Solomon/Richards file list. Secondary journalism. No invented quotes from the PDF.