Hawkeye Reporter

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has released a previously classified appendix to Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report, providing further details on intelligence related to the 2016 presidential election and the FBI’s handling of allegations concerning the Clinton campaign and Donald Trump.

The declassified document, referred to as the “Durham annex,” contains information about a reported plan by Hillary Clinton’s campaign to link then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia. The annex also expands on topics from Durham’s unclassified report, including potential foreign influence in U.S. elections, statements made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) regarding surveillance applications for Carter Page, and how the FBI managed intelligence suggesting that the Clinton campaign may have been involved in creating what became known as the Russia collusion narrative.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and elements of the Intelligence Community declassified the annex at Grassley’s request. The process required input from both the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA). Grassley said, “the overriding public interest demands the release of this information, and doing so would benefit public transparency and accountability.”

Grassley commented on his reasons for seeking declassification: “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.

He added: “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.

According to details in both memoranda cited within the annex—one from January 2016 and another from March 2016—the Obama administration received intelligence describing confidential conversations between then-Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and individuals at Open Society Foundations about efforts focused on discrediting Trump. The documents indicated plans within Clinton's staff aimed at preparing revelations about Trump's business ties with Russian entities.

The annex also describes how Fusion GPS began opposition research into purported connections between Trump associates and Russians around March 2016; this research was funded by Clinton's campaign along with support from Democratic Party sources.

Further sections outline additional intelligence received by federal authorities in July 2016 regarding emails allegedly sent by Leonard Benardo of Open Society Foundations discussing strategies involving media dissemination through companies such as Crowdstrike or ThreatConnect.

Analysts interviewed by Durham's team assessed these emails as likely authentic but noted they could be composites obtained via Russian hacking operations targeting U.S.-based think tanks like Open Society Foundations or Carnegie Endowment.

High-ranking officials—including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey—were briefed on these findings during an August 3rd White House meeting in 2016.

A written assessment prepared by CIA analysts in 2017 stated there was no determination that these memoranda or hacked communications were products of Russian fabrication.

Despite being alerted that some information it received might originate from either Clinton supporters or possibly Russian disinformation campaigns, according to conclusions in both reports released by Durham's office—and referenced again here—the FBI dismissed some claims without conducting investigative steps needed either corroborate or refute them.

The newly released material reinforces prior findings that while lacking probable cause—and relying instead on disputed information—the FBI obtained FISA warrants against Carter Page but did not provide equivalent defensive briefings for candidate Trump compared with those given Hillary Clinton when foreign influence concerns arose.