The annex of the Durham report, declassified and released to the public on Thursday, has revealed that the FBI was "aware" that information regarding the Trump-Russia hoax may have had origins in the Clinton campaign, but appeared to have "dismissed" the information and did not take investigative steps.
The annex stated that multiple high-ranking US officials were briefed, including Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, on "Russian interference efforts as well as the TI intelligence received concerning the referenced plan by the Clinton campaign."
The annex stated that then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had "approved a plan proposed by one of her foreign policy advisors, Julianne Smith, to smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by the Russian special services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate."
In September 2016, the CIA sent the FBI an "investigative" referral for the "purported Clinton campaign plan."
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 US communications, to be the product of Russian fabrications."
The annex stated, "the record reflects that the 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. Despite this awareness, the FBI appears to have dismissed the TI information as not credible without any investigative steps actually having been taken either to corroborate or disprove the allegations."
Senator Chuck Grassley, who released the documents, said in a statement, "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."
