Recently declassified documents indicate that Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate who has run unsuccessfully twice, supported a strategy formulated by one of her campaign aides to “discredit” then-candidate Donald Trump through baseless claims of Russian involvement, while simultaneously diverting focus from her own escalating email controversy during the 2016 election.
The strategy involved “emphasizing the theme of ‘Putin’s support for Trump’” and “thereafter guiding public perception to equate” actual electoral infrastructure interference with the political influence efforts of the Russian leader.
“Clinton sanctioned a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors, Julianne Smith, to ‘discredit Donald Trump by amplifying the scandal associated with the intrusion by Russian intelligence services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate,’” one of the declassified memos stated.
Special Counsel John Durham uncovered this information during an extensive investigation into intelligence operations concerning the 2016 election.
At the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and other U.S. intelligence officials made the files from Durham’s investigation public.
“According to the Durham annex, the Obama FBI did not sufficiently review and investigate intelligence reports indicating that the Clinton campaign may have been fabricating the false Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political advantage, which was ultimately executed through the Steele Dossier and other methods,” Grassley remarked in a statement.
“These intelligence reports and associated records, regardless of their veracity, were concealed for years. History will reveal that the law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the Obama and Biden administrations were weaponized against President Trump,” he continued.
“This political weaponization has inflicted significant harm on our institutions and represents one of the largest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration bears a substantial responsibility to the
Last week, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of Intelligence, made public newly declassified memos indicating that U.S. intelligence officials determined Russia did not have a substantial influence on Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.
Paul Sperry, a senior reporter for Real Clear Investigations, utilized X to disclose that sources have informed him of incriminating text messages and emails that reveal coordination between the Obama administration and aides from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
“DEVELOPING: I have been informed that there are texts/emails suggesting that aides from the Hillary Clinton campaign directly coordinated with officials from the Obama White House, NSC, State Department, and Intelligence Community in efforts to uncover damaging information linking Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin in July 2016 …developing…” Perry stated on X.
The documents released by Gabbard provide the most definitive evidence to date that officials within the Obama administration harbored significant doubts regarding Russian interference, even as they continued with the investigation.
The memo, dated 2016, explicitly informed then-President Barack Obama that “Russian and criminal actors did not influence the recent U.S. election results through malicious cyber activities targeting election infrastructure.”
While it acknowledged earlier reports concerning a potential breach of Illinois voter rolls and unsuccessful targeting attempts in other states, the memo clearly articulates that these efforts never compromised voting systems and did not come close to affecting the results.
“The targeting of infrastructure not utilized in casting ballots makes it highly improbable that it would have led to any alteration of a state’s official vote,” the document states. It further elaborates: “Criminal activity also did not reach the scale and sophistication required to modify election outcomes.”
The revelation serves as a significant validation for Trump, who has consistently maintained that the narrative of collusion with Russia was a fabrication promoted by the Clinton campaign and intelligence officials from the Obama administration to undermine his presidency prior to its commencement.
Currently, the focus is shifting towards those who advocated for this narrative.
FBI officials are laying the foundation for a potential criminal inquiry into former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, and others who played a role in initiating and conducting the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
These documents inaccurately asserted links between Trump and Russian operatives.