‘Russiagate’ Bombshell Points Straight to Hillary Clinton

The document, released Thursday by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, was originally part of Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report. The annex appears to provide further evidence for claims made by President Donald Trump and his allies regarding alleged misconduct by the FBI in launching its investigation into the former president’s campaign.

Contained within the annex are two Russian intelligence memos that reportedly reference the involvement of then-President Barack Obama and include communications among members of Clinton’s 2016 campaign. These communications appear to detail early internal efforts to frame a link between Trump and Russian operatives, a narrative that would later drive headlines and investigations throughout Trump’s presidency.

In June 2016, the Democratic National Committee publicly confirmed a breach of its servers, reportedly carried out by Russian military intelligence. Among the documents accessed were internal campaign emails. One of the declassified messages, dated July 25, 2016, allegedly includes comments from Leonard Benardo of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. In it, Benardo reportedly noted that Clinton’s advisor, Julianne Smith, was working on a strategy to connect Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, writing that “politicization is on the table.”

The email also included an apparent reference to Clinton’s approval of the effort: Later, the FBI will put more oil into the fire. In a follow-up message two days later, Benardo reportedly wrote that Clinton approved an idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections, adding that the controversy could “distract people from her own missing email.

Analysts included in the appendix have differing views on the authenticity of the Benardo emails. Some officials questioned if the messages had been altered or fabricated, while others thought they were most likely authentic. Benardo denied drafting the emails, though he admitted that some of the language sounded similar to his own. The appendix states that the letters were most likely “a composite” of emails taken from American think tanks by Russian hackers.

Clinton and her top campaign officials repeatedly denied knowledge of any attempt to promote a Trump-Russia connection, despite the suggestion of direct cooperation. According to reports, Clinton rejected the 2016 intelligence as Russian misinformation, and John Podesta, the head of her campaign, termed the information absurd and asserted that the campaign was not involved.

Jake Sullivan, then a senior adviser and now President Biden’s national security advisor, also denied familiarity with the internal communications and said the notion of a strategic plan was ridiculous. However, he acknowledged that the campaign focused heavily on Trump and Russia, though he said he could not recall anyone outlining a specific plan to use that narrative to deflect scrutiny from Clinton.

The annex suggests that correspondence associated with Julianne Smith could provide some evidence in favor of the notion that, in late July 2016, the Clinton campaign sought to improve the Trump-Russia story. Benardo’s comment about adding gasoline to the fire further implies that the campaign would have expected official support from government agencies, including the FBI, through formal investigations. The appendix claims that the CIA also forwarded an investigative referral to the FBI, citing the alleged plan of the Clinton campaign.

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