WASHINGTON D.C. – In a bombshell report released Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified intelligence that suggests Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign played dirty in the 2016 elections.
The information hints that her campaign team created a plan in July 2016 to frame then-candidate and now-President Donald Trump for Russian hacking.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Lindsey Graham, Ratcliffe dubs the FBI investigation “Hurricane Crossfire.”
Today, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified a Russian intelligence assessment that was previously rejected by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee as having no factual basishttps://t.co/mopq3YQMmP
— POLITICO (@politico) September 29, 2020
He writes to the South Carolina Republican lawmaker:
“In late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained insight into Russian intelligence analysis alleging that U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump by tying him to Putin and the Russians’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
“The IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”
The timing of the investigation coincides with the Wikileaks release of emails from the Democratic National committee server, right before the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Senate Democrats have previously dismissed the assessment as having no factual basis.
Ratcliffe continued on to say that according to his “handwritten notes” then CIA director John Brennan briefed President Barack Obama and “other senior national security officials” on the intelligence.
Less than six weeks later, Ratcliffe writes to Senator Graham that intelligence officials made an “investigative referral” to the FBI. He named former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, specifically.
The letter says the “referral” regarded:
“U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private mail server.”
At several points in her campaign, Clinton publicly lobbed accusations at Russia and the country’s alleged ties to President Trump.
The letter concluded by saying that U.S. Attorney General William Barr approved the declassification last week after Senator Graham requested information on the FBI investigation.
The limited release of unverified foreign intelligence appears to have shocked both legal and intelligence experts.
Former special counsel for the Department of Defense Ryan Goodman tweeted Tuesday:
“Certainly looks like Trump’s DNI Ratcliffe is carrying out a political errand (and botching the job). “Several former senior intelligence officials described Ratcliffe’s move as incendiary and irresponsible, given…he was publicly releasing unverified information from” Russia.”
Certainly looks like Trump’s DNI Ratcliffe is carrying out a political errand (and botching the job).
“Several former senior intelligence officials described Ratcliffe’s move as incendiary and irresponsible, given…he was publicly releasing unverified information from” Russia. https://t.co/qpVNQtn9zL
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 29, 2020
Attorney Brett McGurk, who was a national security official under Presidents Trump, Obama and George W. Bush posted:
“Wait? The DNI won’t release the US Intelligence Community’s global threat assessment to the American people (for the first time ever) but he’ll release RUSSIAN intel that US analysts say may be fabricated?”
Wait? The DNI won’t release the US Intelligence Community’s global threat assessment to the American people (for the first time ever) but he’ll release RUSSIAN intel that US analysts say may be fabricated?👇 https://t.co/z3RGipJDVZ
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) September 29, 2020
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was also quick to turn to social media and comment on the stunning document drop.
He tweeted:
“JUST DECLASSIFIED: The Russia hoax was Hillary’s plan, and the Obama-Biden White House was briefed on it.”
OMG🚨🚨🚨JUST DECLASSIFIED: The Russia hoax was Hillary’s plan, and the Obama-Biden White House was briefed on it. pic.twitter.com/ytquclKKg1
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 29, 2020
Most of the politicians or former candidates named in the letter have yet to comment on the newly released information.
Hillary Clinton has not issued a statement and neither have spokespeople for former President Obama or current democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Biden’s own link to Russia investigations already came to light earlier this year during the prosecution of former White House national security advisor General Mike Flynn.
Flynn plead guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his calls with Russia’s then ambassador to the United States.
Shortly after Flynn cut a deal with prosecutors, Attorney General Barr commented on the case during an interview with CBS. Barr said:
“People sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes, and the Department of Justice is not persuaded that this was material to any legitimate counterintelligence investigation. So, it was not a crime.”
Here’s another previous report from Law Enforcement Today regarding the Trump-Russia dossier.
WASHINGTON DC – Some are suggesting it’s the bombshell that will barely make a blip in the news.
U.K. Court documents released on Wednesday reveal that as early as July 5, 2016, the FBI was aware that former MI6 agent, Christopher Steele had acknowledged that the then-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton personally knew that he was commissioned to compile the now thoroughly discredited Trump-Russia dossier.
According to Just the News, a British judge ruled Wednesday that Christopher Steele violated a data privacy law by failing to check the accuracy of information in his infamous dossier, ordering the former spy’s firm to pay damages to two businessmen he wrongly accused of making illicit payments in Russia.
Justice Mark Warby of the High Court of England and Wales ordered Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Intelligence to pay a modest 18,000 English pounds, about $22,596 in American currency, each to Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman as compensation for a violation of Britain’s Data Protection Act of 1998.
According to Breitbart, notes taken by the FBI indicate that Steele said Clinton herself was aware that he was commissioned to create the Trump-Russia dossier, which alleges collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.
This comes amongst various other bizarre allegations.
Allegedly, three months later, the FBI would conceal this critical information from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in order to obtain a warrant to spy on Trump’s tangential campaign adviser, Carter Page.
Court Rules Steele Dossier “Inaccurate And Misleading” To Ensure “Clinton’s Election” https://t.co/Dq8ekUDJ3e
— Rusty (@RustyJustice) July 11, 2020
This past Wednesday, a London judge ordered Steele to pay damages to two Alfa Bank partners for publishing “inaccurate or misleading” material in his infamous dossier, including claims that the banks funneled “illicit cash” to Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
The ruling is 57-pages long and can be viewed here. It reveals that the FBI recorded notes of the July 5th meeting they held with Steele at his London Orbis Business office, where he handed the FBI the documents containing his unsubstantiated, largely-discredited anti-Trump charges.
The FBI noted that Steele had told them that his Orbis Business Intelligence firm was contracted by Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS and “Democratic Party Associates” to produce the dossier, but that he knew the “ultimate client” were the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign. One section of the court documents reads as follows:
“Mr. Steele’s evidence is that he now believes the Ultimate Client was the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Millar submits that the Ultimate Client was the Clinton election campaign, “Hillary for America.”
This is the line with the FBI note of 5 July 2016, which records Mr. Steele telling the FBI that Orbis had been instructed by Mr. Simpson of Fusion and ‘Democratic Party Associates,’ but that the ‘Ultimate Client’ were the leadership of the Clinton presidential campaign.
The FBI note also indicates that Mr. Steele had been told by that stage that Mrs. Clinton herself was aware of what Orbis had been commissioned to do.”
The explosive FBI notes undermine the representation that it would make an error-ridden Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) application three months later in order to spy on Page.
In late October 2016, then-FBI director James Comey signed the first of three successful FISA applications to obtain warrants to spy on Page. The second and third were renewal applications, since a FISA warrant requires a renewal every 90 days.
A footnote in Carter Page’s October 21st FISA application and the two subsequent renewals, omitted the key fact that the FBI had documented Steele’s knowledge of Clinton’s role in the dossier, as well as her awareness that he was tasked to compile it.
Instead, the FBI footnote makes no mention of Steel’s awareness of his ultimate clients, which would have undermined the credibility of the dossier which the FBI relied on in large part in its FISA application against Page. The footnote in all three of the FISA applications read:
“Source #1, (Steele), who now owns a foreign business/financial intelligence firm, was approached by an identified person (Simpson) who indicated to source #1 that a U.S. based law firm had hired the identified U.S. person to conduct research regarding candidate #1’s ties to Russia.
(The identified U.S. person and source #1 have a long-standing business relationship).
The identified U.S. person hired source #1 to conduct this research. the identified U.S. person never advised source #1 as to the motivation behind the research into candidate #1’s ties to Russia.
The FBI speculates that the identified U.S. person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Candidate #1’s campaign.”
The deceptive phraseology that the FBI “speculates” on possible bias when it knew Steele was aware that the ultimate clients were not Simpson, but Clinton herself, demonstrates that the FBI, which is obligated to add any exculpatory evidence in applying for FISA warrants, was intentionally deceiving in its representations in the FISA application and its renewals.
The dossier would eventually set in motion the entire Russia hoax narrative, leading to the appointment of a special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller, to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”
After nearly two years, the investigation concluded that:
“It did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
On Saturday, in response to the U.K. court’s findings against Steele, President Trump tweeted this:
The newly revealed information contained in the U.K. court document adds yet another avenue for U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is currently investigating the origins of the Russian hoax, to explore further.
Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.
Make sure you click “following” and then click “see first” so you don’t miss a thing! (See image below.) Thanks for being a part of the LET family!
