“Clinton 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…’”
The declassified annex of the 2023 Durham report related to the 2016 election was released on Thursday, revealing how Hillary Clinton approved a plan from a campaign advisor to "smear" then-presidential candidate Donald Trump through "raising the theme of ‘Putin’s support for Trump,’" and "subsequently steering public opinion toward the notion that it needs to equate" the influence campaign from Putin with interference in the election. This came as Clinton was facing her email scandal.
"Clinton 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,'" the declassified report stated.
A translated draft memorandum stated, "as envisioned by Smith, raising the theme of 'Putin’s support for Trump' to the level of the Olympics scandal would divert the constituents' attention from the investigation of Clinton’s compromised electronic correspondence."
"In addition, by subsequently steering public opinion toward the notion that it needs to equate 'Putin’s efforts' to invluence poilitical processes in the US via cyberspace to acts against a crucially importnatn infrastructure (resembling a national pwer supply network) would force the White House to use more confrontational scenarios vis-a-vis Moscow that, as a whole, suits Clinton’s line of conduct."
The annex noted a March 2016 memorandum, which stated, "In relation to the consensus reached among the Democratic Party (DP) leadership regarding the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama sanctioned the use of all administrative levers to remove possibly negative effects from the FBI investigation of cases related to the Clinton Foundation and the email correspondence in the State Department."
Senator Chuck Grassley, who released the declassified annex, said in a statement, "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."
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Declassified Durham Annex by Hannah Nightingale on Scribd
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