On Tuesday night, following the news that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe had declassified documents showing former CIA Director John Brennan had briefed former President Barack Obama about the plan that Hillary Clinton allegedly approved to smear Donald Trump about his supposed connections to Moscow, President Trump tweeted that he would authorize the release of the full, unredacted documents related to the case.
Trump tweeted: “I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”
I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions! https://t.co/GgnHh9GOiq
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020
As The Daily Wire reported on Tuesday:
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified documents on Tuesday showing that former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Barack Obama about the plan that Hillary Clinton allegedly approved to smear then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as a way of distracting from her email scandal.
“Ratcliffe declassified Brennan’s handwritten notes – which were taken after he briefed Obama on the intelligence the CIA received – and a CIA memo, which revealed that officials referred the matter to the FBI for potential investigative action,” Fox News reported. “That referral was sent to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.”
A source that was familiar with the documents told Fox News that, despite claims from the media and Democrats, the information was not “Russian disinformation,” and the fact that Brennan reportedly briefed Obama on it is a sign that it was serious.
“This is not Russian disinformation. Even Brennan knew, or he wouldn’t be briefing the president of the United States on it,” the source said. “There is a high threshold to orally brief the president of the United States and he clearly felt this met that threshold.”
In late July, former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett suggested that the public stop focusing on whether the Obama administration used the FBI to spy on Donald Trump in 2016.
Appearing on Fox Business with host Maria Bartiromo, Jarrett stated, “Well, Maria, look, I have a high degree of confidence that our intelligence community, our investigators comported themselves responsibly. Look, Lindsey Graham is the one that encouraged Senator McCain to turn over the dossier in the first place to the FBI.”
The Daily Wire had reported that the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found 17 “inaccuracies and omissions” in FISA warrant applications to spy on Carter Page. But the FBI ignored information from a U.S. government agency that said it had a prior relationship with Page involving contacts with Russian intelligence officers. The Daily Wire noted, “The FBI hid this information from the FISA court in order to obtain another warrant to continue investigating Page, even though it knew there was nothing to investigate. By spying on Page, the FBI gained access to other Trump associates to spy on in order to find someevidence that could be used against Trump.:
Jarrett added, “So, I can’t tell you all of the reasons why Comey went forward with his investigation. Maybe this was one piece of a bigger puzzle. But I do know that it’s nearly four years ago and I don’t understand why our focus isn’t on what’s happening right now and today. That’s the investigation I would like to see going on.”