U.S. intelligence services obtained information during the 2016 presidential campaign suggesting that President Barack Obama planned to scuttle an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information during her time as secretary of state.
Obama’s FBI also obtained information alleging that the Democratic Party planned to tie Clinton’s rival Donald Trump to the “Russian mafia,” the declassified documents show. The revelations come from the annex of John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel report, declassified by Sen. Chuck Grassley Thursday.
The annex includes the text of memos apparently prepared by Russian intelligence. Russian spies obtained emails between then-Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and two individuals at the George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations (OSF) — as well as other emails exfiltrated from the Obama White House, Department of State, think tanks and political organizations — before this information was returned to U.S. intelligence services, other documents declassified by Grassley last week indicate.
The documents state that analysts and officers whom Durham’s team interviewed stated that their best assessment was that emails underlying this foreign intelligence were authentic.
“[The Democratic Party’s] opposition is focused on discrediting Trump…. [a]mong other things, the Clinton staff, with support from special services, is preparing scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the ‘Russian Mafia,’” a memo obtained by the FBI reads.
FBI analysts assessed that the “special services” could refer to assistance from the FBI or CIA or other law enforcement agencies. It could also refer to the opposition research dossier prepared by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and paid for by Clinton and the Democratic Party.
The foreign intelligence reports — based on emails from the Democratic Party’s inside world — were never verified. But the newly declassified documents also indicate that the FBI never investigated the claims, which were highly relevant to their investigations into both Clinton’s email server and allegations of Russian interference.
A request for comment through the office of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama was not immediately returned. The Clinton Foundation didn’t immediately respond.
“This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history,” Grassley said in a statement.
“For years, I’ve fought to assemble and publicize all the facts surrounding Durham’s investigation, Crossfire Hurricane and related matters. The American people shouldn’t be shortchanged or strung out on matters of significant public interest, and that firm belief fuels my tireless oversight. It’s been a refreshing change to see Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel’s increased efforts to bring transparency to a very dark corner of the people’s government. I hope that attitude continues, and you can be sure my oversight work will continue as well, because there’s much work yet to be done,” Grassley concluded.
Documents declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in recent days have revealed that Obama’s intelligence chiefs spun, cherrypicked and in some cases wholly manufactured raw intelligence reports to support the narrative – predetermined in leaks to the media – that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “clear preference” for Trump and “aspired to help his election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton.”
The resulting 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment touched off years of Russiagate media frenzy. Though technically endorsed by the “big three” — the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), FBI and National Security Agency — just five CIA analysts handpicked by CIA Director Brennan wrote the assessment. Those analysts worked hand-in-glove with Brennan, churning out an assessment in less than a week in the days leading up to Christmas, according to a congressional investigation.
Clinton came under scrutiny in the 2016 election for her use of a private email server in apparent violation of federal records retention law. The newly declassified documents provide a window into how this may have jeopardized national security.
The FBI also obtained the apparent emails lifted from the Soros-funded group underlying the foreign intelligence reports.
Emails purportedly sent by OSF Senior Vice President Leonardo Benardo described in the declassified annex provide a window into Clinton’s inner circle.
Regarding the hack and leak of emails obtained from the Democratic National Committee in 2016 — purportedly by Russian military intelligence (GRU) — Benardo said that the Clinton campaign might have wanted or expected the FBI to “put more oil into the fire” through a formal investigation.
“HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] approved [Campaign Advisor Julie’s] idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections. That should distract people from her own missing emails,” he wrote. “In absence of direct evidence, Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect will supply the media, and GRU [Russia’s Main Intelligence Directive] will hopefully carry on to give more facts.”
Crowdstrike indeed spoke to the press about the alleged hack that summer. The company would later say under oath that it had no proof it was the GRU.
This email is dated July 27, 2016.
On July 31, 2016, the FBI opened its investigation codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane” into alleged connections between the Trump campaign and Russian election interference.
Intelligence analysts said the emails appeared authentic. Benardo denied drafting the email in an interview with investigators.
Benardo could not be reached for comment.
“CIA and the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi are taking a bold step forward in declassifying the underlying intelligence in the Durham appendix showing the false Trump-Russia collusion narrative for what it was – a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump’s presidency,” said CIA Director John Ratcliffe in a statement.
“The American people deserve the full, unfiltered truth about the Russia collusion hoax and the political abuse of our justice system it exposed. Today’s declassification and release of documents tied to the Durham report is another step toward that accountability,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement.
The Durham annex had been tucked away in “burn bags” in a recently discovered room at FBI headquarters, Fox News reported Wednesday.
Patel told podcaster Joe Rogan in a June interview that his deputies had uncovered the room despite efforts by FBI Director James Comey to lock away the information.
“Just think about this,” Patel told Rogan. “Me, as director of the FBI, the former ‘Russiagate guy,’ when I first got to the bureau, found a room that Comey and others hid from the world in the Hoover Building, full of documents and computer hard drives that no one had ever seen or heard of. Locked the key and hid access and just said, ‘No one’s ever gonna find this place.’”
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