Russiagate Exposed In Declassified Annex of Durham Report

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   Sharlee01posted 3 weeks ago

   
   The credible foreign sources indicating the FBI and the Obama administration would play a role in spreading the salacious Trump–Russia narrative — before the bureau ever launched its probe — were allegedly tied to George Soros' Open Society Foundation, according to an explosive document declassified Thursday morning.
   
   The appendix to former Special Counsel John Durham’s report released by the Senate Judiciary Committee sheds stunning light on what Chairman Chuck Grassley describes as "one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history."
   
   CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi worked in coordination to declassify the information.
   
   Before its official release, sources exclusively briefed Fox News Digital on some of the contents of the appendix — including that the U.S. intelligence community had credible foreign sources indicating that the FBI would play a role in spreading the salacious Trump–Russia collusion narrative — before the bureau ever launched its controversial Crossfire Hurricane probe.
   
   A source familiar with the contents of the classified appendix told Fox News Digital that while it may not have been exactly clear in the moment what the intelligence collection meant, with the benefit of hindsight, it predicted the FBI’s next move "with alarming specificity."
   
   The appendix reveals that the foreign sources were allegedly tied to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
   
   The appendix said that Russian government actors in 2016 reportedly hacked emails from the Open Society Foundations, formerly known as the Soros Foundation.
   
   "Two of the apparently hacked emails appear to have originated from the Open Society Foundations," the appendix states, noting that the purported author of these emails was Leonard Bernardo, who was the regional director for Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations.
   
   "During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…technical structures… in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications," Bernardo reportedly wrote in an email, per the appendix.
   
   "The media analysis on the DNC hacking appears solid …. Julie (Clinton Campaign Advisor) says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce," Bernardo allegedly wrote, per the appendix. "Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire."
   
   Another email reportedly from Bernardo states: "HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) approved Julie’s idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections."
   
   "This should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level," Bernardo continued, per the annex. "The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue. Say something like a critical infrastructure threat for the election to feel manic since both POTUS and VPOTUS have acknowledge the fact IC would speed up searching for evidence that is regrettably still unavailable."
   
   Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s Trump–Russia investigation, was opened just several days later, on July 31, 2016.
   
   The appendix reveals that Durham’s team interviewed numerous FBI personnel involved in the Crossfire Hurricane probe. Durham said those he interviewed believed the Bernardo emails to be "likely authentic."
   
   Durham’s appendix states that the Clinton campaign "might have wanted or expected the FBI or other agencies to aid that effort ("put more oil into the fire") by commencing a formal investigation of the DNC hack."
   
   Communications the Durham team reviewed additionally supported that the Clinton campaign allegedly had been engaged in a plan to tie Trump to Russia, and that the campaign wanted or expected the office of the vice president, the FBI or other parts of the intelligence community, such as the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), to aid that effort.
   
   "The Office’s best assessment is that the … emails that purport to be from Bernardo were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based Think Tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others," the Durham annex states.
   
   "It is a logical deduction (redacted) (Julianne) Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign’s efforts to tie Trump to Russia," Durham writes, also noting that the communications reviewed "certainly lends at least some credence that such a plan existed."
   
   "Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means," Grassley said in a statement. "These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years."
   
   Grassley said that "history will show that the Obama and Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump."
   
   "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. "The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency."
   
   In 2020, Fox News Digital exclusively reported that former CIA Director John Brennan, in the summer of 2016, briefed former President Barack Obama and administration officials on intelligence that then-Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Clinton reportedly was stirring up a plan to tie Trump to Russia.
   
   Ratcliffe, as director of national intelligence, declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes memorializing that meeting, which were exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in October 2020.
   
   On July 28, 2016, Brennan briefed Obama on a plan allegedly by one of Clinton's campaign foreign policy advisors "to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service."
   
   The FBI on July 31, 2016, opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as "Crossfire Hurricane."
   
   Comey, then-Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were at the Brennan–Obama briefing.
   
   After that briefing, and one in the White House on August 3, 2016, with Clapper, Brennan, Obama, Biden, Comey and others, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: "Crossfire Hurricane."
   
   Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: "The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate."
   
   "Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date," the memo continued. "An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server."
   
   The declassification and release of the classified annex was done with close coordination between Ratcliffe, Patel, Gabbard, Bondi and acting National Security Agency Director William Hartman — along with Grassley, who ultimately released the document to the public.
   
   Meanwhile, while Ratcliffe was director of National Intelligence in 2020, he provided intelligence to Durham as part of a larger trove of more than 1,000 documents.
   
   A former senior Trump official told Fox News Digital that Ratcliffe had advocated for releasing the intelligence publicly then, but that Durham, who, at the time, was expected to release an interim report prior to the 2020 election, declined on the basis that it could negatively impact his investigation, which had not yet reached a determination on potential prosecutions.
   
   "Durham said he wanted to preserve his investigation but was going to release an interim report," the former official told Fox News Digital. "Then he said he was afraid he’d get accused of politicization and disappeared."
   
   The source added: "Thankfully the real politicization is all coming to light now."
   
   Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to take over the FBI’s original "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.
   
   Shortly after, Durham was appointed as special counsel to investigate the origins of the "Crossfire Hurricane" probe. Durham found that the FBI had "failed to act" on a "clear warning sign" that the bureau had been the "target" of an alleged Clinton-led effort to "manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes" ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
   
   "The aforementioned facts reflect a rather startling and inexplicable failure to adequately consider and incorporate the Clinton Plan intelligence into the FBI’s investigative decision-making in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," Durham’s report states.
   
   "Indeed, had the FBI opened the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as an assessment and, in turn, gathered and analyzed data in concert with the information from the Clinton Plan intelligence, it is likely that the information received would have been examined, at a minimum, with a more critical eye," the report continued.
   
   Durham, in his report, said the FBI had "failed to act on what should have been — when combined with other incontrovertible facts — a clear warning sign that the FBI might then be the target of an effort to manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election."
   
   Fox News Digital reached out to Soros and Bernardo for comment and has yet to receive a reply.
   
   Grassley said he has been fighting for years 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," Grassley said. It has 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 added.
   
   On Thursday, Bondi said that the Department of Justice and CIA are "committed to truth and transparency and will continue to support good-faith efforts by Congress to hold our government accountable."
   
   Ratcliffe said that the declassification was a "bold step forward" toward showing "the false Trump–Russia collusion narrative for what it was — a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump’s presidency."
   
   "CIA stands with the Department and is committed to transparency and rebuilding trust in the IC," Ratcliffe said. "The American people deserve the opportunity to see the evidence for themselves."
   
   FBI Director Patel, who has been investigating the origins of the Trump–Russia probe since his days as a chief investigator on the House Intelligence Committee in 2018, said 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," Patel said. "The FBI will continue working tirelessly with our federal partners at DOJ, CIA, and more to uncover the facts that should have been brought to light years ago."
   
   "I’m grateful to Chairman Grassley for his steadfast leadership on this issue, and I look forward to our continued partnership in exposing one of the most shameful frauds ever perpetrated on the American public," Patel said.
   
   See documents
   https://www.foxnews.com/politics/soros- … ham-report
   
   https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/ne … nvestigate

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      My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      SOROS: Durham ultimately concluded the content could not be verified as genuine or definitively traced to the Clinton campaign—possibly Russian disinformation
      
      Claim: CIA Director John Ratcliffe, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, and AG Pam Bondi coordinated to declassify this. - Not True. Gabbard was not part of the declassification process.
      
      Claim: The emails originate from Open Society and explicitly outline the Clinton campaign's plan. - FALSE. At best the annex said that the emails were "purported" to have come from those mentioned. They deny that claim.
      
      Claim: The Durham investigation found FBI “buried” intelligence suggesting the Clinton campaign orchestrated a smear plan. - FALSE. TRUTH -  the report cited inconclusiveness and concerns about confirmation bias and reliance on unverified intelligence. It did not establish direct coordination by the Clinton campaign to fabricate a Trump–Russia narrative.
      
      TRUTH
      
      * Intelligence integrity concerns: Durham criticized FBI practices and potential politicization in 2016—but did not confirm that the Clinton campaign orchestrated a propaganda effort.
      
      * Open Society was never legally implicated: The foundation firmly denies involvement and states the documents contain disinformation possibly seeded by Russian operatives.
      
      * The emails remain unverified composites, not proven original communications.
      
      BOTTOM LINE: The core claims—that Soros-linked sources predicted the FBI’s actions, that there was a coordinated Clinton plan, and that Open Society aided in this—are not substantiated by the Durham report. Critics and Durham himself concluded the intelligence was unverified and possibly fabricated. Investigations like Mueller's and a bipartisan Senate review found no evidence of criminal collusion by the Clinton campaign.

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   Sharlee01posted 3 weeks ago

   Press Release
   
   Department of Justice, CIA Transmits Declassified Durham Documents to Senator Chuck Grassley
   
   "WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Justice transmitted the declassified Appendix of the Durham Report to the Senate Judiciary Committee following collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This transmission advances President Donald J. Trump’s directive for maximum transparency and underscores the Attorney General’s commitment to that objective. It also fulfills a request for disclosure by Senate Judiciary Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), whose leadership on this issue has been instrumental.
   
   This latest transmission to Senate Republicans follows the Department’s recent disclosure of information related to the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information.
   
   Following the transmission of new Durham documents, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and FBI Director Kash Patel released the following statements:
   
   “Today, the Department of Justice provided Chairman Grassley with previously classified information relating to Special Counsel Durham’s investigation into possible coordination between the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. This Department of Justice, alongside the CIA, is committed to truth and transparency and will continue to support good-faith efforts by Congress to hold our government accountable.” – Attorney General Pamela Bondi
   
   “Today, 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. CIA stands with the Department and is committed to transparency and rebuilding trust in the IC. The American people deserve the opportunity to see the evidence for themselves.” – CIA Director John Ratcliffe
   
   “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. The FBI will continue working tirelessly with our federal partners at DOJ, CIA, and more to uncover the facts that should have been brought to light years ago. I’m grateful to Chairman Grassley for his steadfast leadership on this issue, and I look forward to our continued partnership in exposing one of the most shameful frauds ever perpetrated on the American public.” – FBI Director Kash Patel"
   https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/departme … k-grassley

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   Ken Burgessposted 2 weeks ago

   I have to recommend this video, once again Victor strings the real facts together and gives what went on, and what is going on, proper perspective.
   
   You should like this one Sharlee:
   
   Current Dealings With China And Russia and the First Gulf War
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsF5f8Z6ufk

   replyreport
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      My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      I stopped listening to this when I encountered his first big LIE.
      
      He said Obama agreed to "dismantle" our missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic IF Putin gave him space. He then goes on to say Obama did just that.
      
      HERE IS THE LIE: While Obama did cancel a plan that Bush had of putting missiles there, that was in 2009 and NOT 2012 as this idiot says AND nothing was dismantled since nothing had been built. Also missing is that Obama replaced the defense plan with newer technology and a different mechanism.
      
      Maybe this guy is where Trump and others get their revisionist history from.

      replyreport
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         Ken Burgessposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         You wish you could have half the credentials and credibility Mr. Hanson has.
         
         But thanks for giving it a whirl... I know it must have been painful.

         replyreport
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            My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

            He can have all the credentials in the world, BUT when he blatantly LIES, he has NO credibility except among those who chose to believe the lies.

            replyreport
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   Kathleen Cochranposted 2 weeks ago

   "sources exclusively briefed Fox News "

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      Sharlee01posted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

      Kathleen,  I felt it was important to have another source to support the Fox article, so I looked for something directly from Congress. I found a statement posted by Senator Chuck Grassley on his official government website, which I did included in my opening comment. His post is lengthy, but I’ve provided it for you along with a link to the documents referenced in the Fox article. The article itself cites both Durham and Senator Grassley multiple times to reinforce key points.
      
      07.31.2025
      Newly Declassified Appendix to Durham Report Sheds Additional Light on Clinton Campaign Plan to Falsely Tie Trump to Russia and FBI’s Failure to Investigate    https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/ne … nvestigate
      
      WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today is making public the formerly Classified Appendix (“Durham annex”) to John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel report. The Unclassified Report and the Classified Appendix form the entirety of Durham’s Special Counsel Report.
      
      The Durham annex contains previously classified information exposing a reported Clinton campaign plan to falsely tie President Donald Trump to Russia.
      
      The annex also goes into further detail on matters discussed in the Unclassified Report, specifically:
      
      Potential election influence by a foreign government regarding Hillary Clinton;
      
      False statements to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) regarding FISA renewal applications for Carter Page;
      
      The FBI’s failure – under the leadership of then-Director James Comey – to investigate intelligence that the Clinton campaign may have created the Russia collusion hoax. Meanwhile the Comey-led FBI used the Steele Dossier – a Clinton campaign creation – to obtain FISA warrants on Carter Page.
      
      Attorney General Pam Bondi, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel and Intelligence Community elements declassified the Durham annex at Grassley’s request. In requesting its declassification, which included declassification of information by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA), Grassley argued that “the overriding public interest demands the release of this information, and doing so would benefit public transparency and accountability.”
      
      “Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means. These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump. This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency,” Grassley said.
      
      “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.
      
      "Key Findings of the Durham Annex:
      
      The Clinton Campaign Plan
      
      In 2016, the Obama administration obtained intelligence information from a source contained in two separate memoranda – one memorandum from January 2016 and another from March 2016. The two memoranda “described ‘confidential conversations’ between then-Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and two individuals at the [Soros] Open Society Foundations (i) [Leonard] Benardo and (ii) Jeffrey Goldstein.” (Pgs. 2-3)
      
      The January 2016 memorandum noted, in part, that President Barack Obama intended to scuttle the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of highly classified information during her time as Secretary of State. (Pg. 3)
      
      The March 2016 memorandum also included references to the same Obama effort to shut down the Clinton investigation, but additionally outlined a plan to falsely connect Trump to Russia. (Pg. 4)
      
      This memo stated, in part, that “[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’”. (Pg. 4)
      
      According to the Durham annex, based on an analysis and translation of the intelligence, FBI analysts believed that, at the time, the “special services” in the March 2016 memorandum could refer “to the FBI and the CIA or more broadly to the intelligence and law enforcement communities” in the United States, or, analysts speculated, it could refer to “Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.” (Pg. 5)
      
      When the Obama administration received this intelligence in March 2016, Fusion GPS was preparing open source opposition research regarding purported ties between Trump and Russians. The research was paid for by Clinton’s campaign and the DNC. (Pg. 5).
      
      Notably, on April 15, 2020, Grassley released Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) footnotes showing that Russian intelligence was aware of Steele’s anti-Trump research in early July 2016. Further, the FBI had reports in hand in 2017 that the Dossier may have Russian sources and was potentially Russian disinformation.
      
      On March 31, 2016, FBI personnel, including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, shared the intelligence regarding the potential Clinton Campaign Plan with high-ranking career officials at DOJ. (Pg. 5)
      
      FBI Receipt of Additional Intelligence Information on the Clinton Campaign Plan
      
      The Durham annex describes that, in July 2016, the FBI received additional intelligence regarding a possible Clinton Campaign Plan, including documents with purported emails allegedly sent by Leonard Benardo, Senior Vice President of Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The intelligence included data providing specificity on the plan and the attempt to smear then-candidate Donald Trump by falsely linking him to Russia, while apparently counting on the support of the FBI to open up an investigation. (Pgs. 7-11)
      
      The intelligence the FBI received also included information and analysis from purported Leonard Benardo emails that stated, in part:
      
      “During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…technical structures… in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications.” (Pg. 8)
      
      “The media analysis on the DNC hacking appears solid…. Julie [Clinton Campaign Advisor] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.” (Pg. 9)
      
      “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.” (Pg. 11)
      
      “The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue… 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.” (Pg. 11)
      
      Assessment of Authenticity of the “Benardo Emails” Intelligence
      
      The Durham annex states, “Analysts and officers whom [Durham’s team] interviewed, and who were well-versed in the Sensitive Intelligence collection, stated that their best assessment was that the Bernardo emails were likely authentic.” (Pg. 11)
      
      Durham’s team conducted investigative work to inform their assessment. Per the Durham annex:
      
      “The [Clinton] campaign might have wanted or expected the FBI or other agencies to aid that effort (“put more oil into the fire”) by commencing a formal investigation of the DNC hack.” (Pgs. 15-16)
      
      Communications the Durham team reviewed provided additional support that the Clinton campaign was engaged in a plan to tie Trump to Russia and that the campaign wanted or expected the Office of the Vice President, the FBI or other parts of the Intelligence Community, such as the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), to aid that effort. (Pgs. 16-17)
      
      The Durham annex states, “The Office’s best assessment is that the … emails that purport to be from Benardo were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based Think Tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others.” (Pg. 17)
      
      The Durham annex concludes, “It is a logical deduction [redacted] [Julianne] Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign’s efforts to tie Trump to Russia,” and that the communications it reviewed “certainly lends at least some credence that such a plan existed.” (Pg. 17)
      
      The Obama-Biden Administration’s Response to Intelligence on the Clinton Campaign Plan
      
      According to the Durham annex, following the receipt of this intelligence, multiple high-ranking U.S. officials were briefed on the matter, including an August 3, 2016 briefing in the White House by CIA Director John Brennan to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director Comey, among others. As described in Durham’s Unclassified Report, ultimately, the CIA sent the FBI an investigative referral that included the “purported Clinton campaign plan.” (Pg. 18)
      
      In 2017, the “CIA prepared a written assessment of the authenticity and veracity of the above-referenced intelligence. The CIA stated that it did not assess that the above [redacted] memoranda, or [redacted] hacked U.S. communications, to be the product of Russian fabrications.” (Pg. 19)
      
      The Durham annex notes that “FBI was fully alerted to the possibility that at least some of the information it was receiving about the Trump campaign might have its origin either with the Clinton campaign or its supporters, or alternatively, was the product of Russian disinformation.”
      
      The Durham annex concludes, in part, that “[d]espite this awareness, the FBI appears to have dismissed the [intelligence information] as not credible without any investigative steps actually having been taken to either corroborate or disprove the allegations.” (Pgs. 22-24)
      
      The Threat of Foreign Election Influence and Assessment in FISA Renewal Applications
      
      As the Unclassified Durham Report noted, “[b]eginning in late 2014… the FBI learned from a well-placed Confidential Human Source that a foreign government (“Foreign Government-2”) was planning to send an individual (“Non-U.S. Person-I”) to contribute to Clinton’s anticipated presidential campaign, as a way to gain influence with Clinton should she win the presidency.”
      
      The Durham annex notes that “Non-U.S.Person-I” was “directly tasked by the leader of Foreign Government-2” with facilitating this plan, but had indicated plans to travel to the U.S. in late 2014.
      
      At the time, an FBI Field Office sought expedited FISA authorization to begin coverage of this individual as soon as he/she arrived in the United States.
      
      However, as known from the Unclassified Durham Report, the FISA “application lingered because ‘everyone was super more careful’ and ‘scared with the big name [Clinton]’ involved.”
      
      Ultimately, after four months, the FISA authority was authorized following a commitment that Clinton and others targeted by Foreign Government-2 would receive defensive briefings. (Pgs. 23-24)
      
      The remainder of the Durham annex reinforces that the FBI provided false and misleading information to the FISA court in pursuit of FISA renewals, and at least one Confidential Human Source lied to his handlers.
      
      The information in the Durham annex, taken together with previously released details in the Unclassified Report, reinforce the FBI’s disparate treatment of Trump versus Clinton. Despite lacking probable cause and relying on false information, the FBI secured a FISA warrant and multiple renewals to surveil Carter Page and did not provide Trump a defensive briefing equivalent to Clinton’s briefings."
      
      Read the Durham annex   https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/med … assley.pdf

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         Willowarborposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         Durham went to great lengths to try to prove that several of the emails were real, only to ultimately conclude otherwise...."Clinton Plan" emails were likely made by Russian spies...
         
         Sorry, the declassified Durham annex is no bombshell.
         Read the sentence below.
         
         
         The Russians altered the hacked Benardo emails to create the appearance of a Clinton plan to smear Trump. Typical Russian tradecraft. There's a reason this was in the annex and not the report... Grassley should be absolutely embarrassed of himself.

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         My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         Here, I will repost this about that:
         
         SOROS: Durham ultimately concluded the content could not be verified as genuine or definitively traced to the Clinton campaign—possibly Russian disinformation
         
         Claim: CIA Director John Ratcliffe, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, and AG Pam Bondi coordinated to declassify this. - Not True. Gabbard was not part of the declassification process.
         
         Claim: The emails originate from Open Society and explicitly outline the Clinton campaign's plan. - FALSE. At best the annex said that the emails were "purported" to have come from those mentioned. They deny that claim.
         
         Claim: The Durham investigation found FBI “buried” intelligence suggesting the Clinton campaign orchestrated a smear plan. - FALSE. TRUTH -  the report cited inconclusiveness and concerns about confirmation bias and reliance on unverified intelligence. It did not establish direct coordination by the Clinton campaign to fabricate a Trump–Russia narrative.
         
         TRUTH
         
         * Intelligence integrity concerns: Durham criticized FBI practices and potential politicization in 2016—but did not confirm that the Clinton campaign orchestrated a propaganda effort.
         
         * Open Society was never legally implicated: The foundation firmly denies involvement and states the documents contain disinformation possibly seeded by Russian operatives.
         
         * The emails remain unverified composites, not proven original communications.
         
         BOTTOM LINE: The core claims—that Soros-linked sources predicted the FBI’s actions, that there was a coordinated Clinton plan, and that Open Society aided in this—are not substantiated by the Durham report. Critics and Durham himself concluded the intelligence was unverified and possibly fabricated. Investigations like Mueller's and a bipartisan Senate review found no evidence of criminal collusion by the Clinton campaign.

         replyreport
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         My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

         As to going to Congress for an honest view, I stopped doing that. You can trust two and only two Republicans to tell the truth - Collins and Murkowski. You can't trust any Republicans in House, nor can you trust the far right Democrats like AOC and her pals.

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            Ken Burgessposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

            AOC is too far right?
            
            Tell me that is a typo...

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               My Esotericposted 2 weeks agoin reply to this

               Correct, a typo. It should have been the far Left Democrats like AOC.

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