The Justice Department has reportedly agreed to pay President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, roughly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit over his prosecution during the Russia collusion investigation. 
The settlement, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.411523/gov.uscourts.flmd.411523.72.0.pdf">announced</a> Wednesday, resolves a malicious prosecution case Flynn filed in Florida against the DOJ. Flynn argued that FBI agents entrapped him during the investigation, which found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election. 
“Today, after ten years of fighting, I have reached a settlement agreement with the United States Government in my case regarding the Russian Hoax FBI lawfare against me,” Flynn said in a statement. “Nothing can fully compensate for the hell that my family and I have endured over these many years — the relentless attacks, the destruction of reputations, the financial ruin, and the profound personal toll inflicted upon us all. No amount of money or formal resolution can erase the pain caused by a prosecution that should never have been brought.”
A Justice Department spokesman called the settlement an &#8220;important step in redressing&#8221; the &#8220;historic injustice.&#8221; 
&#8220;This Department of Justice will continue to pursue accountability at all levels for this wrongdoing. Such weaponization of the federal government must never be allowed to happen again,” the spokesman said. 
The DOJ did not disclose the exact settlement amount. The New York Times reported it at $1.25 million, while the Associated Press reported it as $1.2 million.
Flynn was charged during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents about a phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He later sought to withdraw his plea, arguing he had been misled by federal agents. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020.
Flynn&#8217;s attorney, Jesse Binnall, said the agreement reflects acknowledgment that his client &#8220;was seriously wronged.&#8221;
“General Flynn is an American hero and he and his family should have never been put through this hell,” said Binnall. “That they had the courage to stand firm and fight back against the extremists in the Mueller investigation should be a testament to the strength of American character.”

ReAwaken America Tour

Michael Flynn Gets Payout As Justice Department Addresses ‘Historic Injustice’

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Michael Flynn

Robert Mueller

Russia

Russia Collusion Hoax

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Monday that he was more inclined to believe statements coming from the Iranian regime than anything coming from President Donald Trump.
Brennan sat down with MS NOW host Symone Sanders-Townsend to discuss the competing claims — from both Trump and the Iranian regime — about whether recent communications were &#8220;productive&#8221; or even took place at all.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Former CIA Director John Brennan: “I tend to believe Iran more than I do Donald Trump because he could not acknowledge the truth even when he’s slapped in the face with it repeatedly.” <a href="https://t.co/2GVqF2ZVfg">pic.twitter.com/2GVqF2ZVfg</a>
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/DropSiteNews/status/2036396559340880229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump has said that recent talks with Iran were productive, but officials in Tehran have denied that any negotiations occurred.
Sanders-Townsend, who most recently worked as a top advisor to former Vice President Kamala Harris, began by saying that she was &#8220;wary&#8221; of taking Iranian officials at their word: &#8220;They are an authoritarian regime that&#8217;s known to lie, but, like, I&#8217;m confused! What&#8217;s going on? Help me! Calm me down.&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I tend to believe Iran more than I do Donald Trump because he could not acknowledge the truth even when he’s slapped in the face with it repeatedly,&#8221; Brennan replied.
Brennan, who was among the loudest voices pushing the Russian collusion hoax, suggested that Trump was not actually speaking to Iranian officials but was claiming he&#8217;d done so in order to convince the American people that he was not in over his head.
&#8220;He is flailing right now. He’s trying to figure out how he’s going to get out of this debacle that he has created. And so he’s going to make these claims about negotiations that the Iranians now are sending signals that they really want to make a deal and indicates that it’s going to make a deal on our terms. I don’t think anything close to the truth in that statement,&#8221; Brennan said.
The only concession Brennan made was that Trump&#8217;s team might be &#8220;talking to people,&#8221; but he insisted that they were not people who were speaking for the Iranian regime in any official capacity.
&#8220;They may be talking to people indirectly, and we know that the Turks and the Egyptians are trying to find some way to mediate this problem. So there could be some members, you know, distant members of parliament that are out there that are speaking individually,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I don’t believe there’s anybody speaking authoritatively right now on behalf of the Iranian government with the Trump administration.&#8221;
President Trump posted his thoughts in all caps early Monday morning, saying that his administration had made progress toward ending the hostilities with Iran.
&#8220;I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116278232362967212">posted</a> on his Truth Social platform.
&#8220;BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS,&#8221; he added.

John Brennan

Top Russia Collusion Hoax Peddler Claims Iran Is More Credible Than Trump

Iran

Media

Politics

Ana Navarro joined her cohosts on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;The View&#8221; in criticizing President Donald Trump for &#8220;celebrating&#8221; the death of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and warned him that the same treatment could one day be turned on him: &#8220;karma never forgets an address.&#8221;
Navarro responded on Monday&#8217;s broadcast to Trump&#8217;s message on Truth Social, where he had posted, &#8220;Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!&#8221; She argued that others would certainly celebrate Trump&#8217;s death in the same fashion — and warned that it was likely to happen sooner than later.
&#8220;This is the same thing he did with John McCain after he died, this is the same thing he did with Rob Reiner. This is who he is because he is a mean person with a dark heart, verbal diarrhea, and no impulse control,&#8221; Navarro began, adding, &#8220;But let me just say this, karma never forgets an address and he is 80 years old, he&#8217;s got obvious visible physical ailments, and there will be people that when he passes away — as we will all pass away — [who] will write these type of things and celebrate. If you don&#8217;t condemn it today from him you don&#8217;t have a right to condemn it then from anybody!&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Whoopi Goldberg suggests no one celebrating Charlie Kirk&#8217;s assassination and whines about people who were upset by it. She then compares it to what Trump said about Mueller:
GOLDBERG: I listen to you guys kvetch and clutch your pearls about what you thought was being said about… <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/2nUxxLEwTv" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/2nUxxLEwTv</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/2036109054775308741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">March 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Navarro&#8217;s cohosts weighed in as well, with Whoopi Goldberg suggesting that conservatives had simply imagined that people on the Left were celebrating when Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September 2025.
&#8220;I listen to you guys kvetch and clutch your pearls about what you thought was being said about Charlie Kirk. I listened to you. We felt for his family,&#8221; Goldberg claimed — and although the cohosts of &#8220;The View&#8221; had broadly condemned Kirk&#8217;s assassination, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ilhan-omar-doubles-down-on-nasty-charlie-kirk-comments-says-legacy-belongs-in-dustbin-of-history" target="_blank">number</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-manchin-stunned-by-aocs-charlie-kirk-rant-dems-are-getting-worse-not-better" target="_blank">on the Left</a> had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ugliest-moment-ive-ever-witnessed-house-dems-object-to-prayer-for-charlie-kirk" target="_blank">celebrated it</a>.
&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; Sunny Hostin agreed.
&#8220;And yet you don&#8217;t have the courage or the — it&#8217;s not even empathy,&#8221; Goldberg searched for the right word.
&#8220;Decency,&#8221; Hostin suggested.
&#8220;Just the decency to say, &#8216;Do you know what, go with God. I didn&#8217;t like what he did, I didn&#8217;t like what he did to me, but go with God,'&#8221; Goldberg continued. &#8220;This is what we say about people we don&#8217;t like. If we don&#8217;t like their politics, if we don&#8217;t like their personage, &#8216;Go with God. I don&#8217;t like you, but God loves you.&#8217; That&#8217;s what we do. That&#8217;s how America is supposed to run regardless of what God you are talking about. And we will be right back before God gets mad at us.&#8221;

Luis Miranda & Family In Conversation With Anna Navarro

‘The View’ Hosts Moan About Trump ‘Celebrating’ Mueller’s Death: ‘Karma Never Forgets’

'The View' Hosts Moan About Trump 'Celebrating' Mueller's Death: 'Karma Never Forgets'

The View

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his legal team is seeking damages from the Department of Justice.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his legal team was seeking damages from the Department of Justice because “they rigged the election.” While noting the conflict of interest involved in the case, he said that any money he received would go to charity.
“I don&#8217;t know what the numbers are, I don&#8217;t even talk to them about it,” the president said, referring to the amount of money his legal team has demanded from the Justice Department. “All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money. I’d give it to charity or something.”
The president noted cases he has already settled with CBS for $16 million and ABC for $15 million. “They paid me a lot of money because what they did was wrong,” the president said before admitting that the DOJ case is different because “I&#8217;m the one that makes the decision.”
“That decision would have to go across my desk, and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages? But I was damaged very greatly and any money that I would get, I would give to charity,” said Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump on NYT reporting he&#8217;s seeking $230 million from the DOJ in response to the investigations into him: &#8220;With the country, it&#8217;s interesting because I&#8217;m the one that makes the decision, right? And that decision would have to go across my desk. And it&#8217;s awfully strange… <a href="https://t.co/i86VXEJVTq">pic.twitter.com/i86VXEJVTq</a>
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1980760746498969694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
The president’s explanation of his legal wrangling with the Justice Department came in response to a reporter’s question about a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/us/politics/trump-justice-department-compensation.html">story</a> in The New York Times that Trump’s legal team is seeking $230 million in damages from the DOJ for prior investigations into the president.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Trump’s legal team submitted its first complaints against the DOJ, starting the process that could eventually lead to a lawsuit, in 2023 long before the president began his second term in office. That complaint requested compensation for the FBI’s investigations into the president’s 2016 campaign, and a special counsel investigation into false ties between the president and Russia, according to The New York Times.
Trump’s legal team filed a second complaint in 2024 that is related to the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents, which involved an FBI raid on Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.
The complaints are still administrative claims filed with the Justice Department and may not become a lawsuit, as the people atop the department were positioned there by the president. For instance, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is one of two people able to sign off on settlements for administrative claims per DOJ guidelines.

Trump Confirms He’s Seeking Damages Against DOJ, Says ‘Any Money’ Will Go To Charity

Executive

Former FBI Director James Comey will go to trial on January 5, after pleading not guilty to charges tied to his handling of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
Comey appeared Wednesday morning before Judge Michael Nachmanoff in Alexandria, Virginia, for his arraignment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is charged with making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
According to the <a href="https://x.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1971357752443404605">indictment</a>, the charges trace back to Comey’s September 2020 congressional testimony about his handling of the FBI’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Prosecutors filed the case just days before the statute of limitations was set to expire on September 30.
The prosecution, led by U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, stated that they expected the trial to last 2-3 days. Nachmanoff set the trial start for January 5 after both sides requested more time. 
“This does not appear to me to be an overly complicated case,” he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/08/us/james-comey-arraignment-fbi">said</a>, according to the New York Times. “I’m not going to force you to go to trial in December if both sides don’t feel they can be ready.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout</a>
Between now and the trial, Comey’s defense team is expected to file several motions to dismiss the case altogether. 
The indictment says that Comey falsely told a senator that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” regarding an FBI investigation into someone identified as “Person 1.” This statement was false, the indictment alleges, because Comey had authorized someone to be an anonymous source for news reports. 
“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said after the indictment was announced. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”

File: U.S. President Donald Trump’s Third Year In The Oval Office

Comey Headed To Trial: Ex-FBI Chief Charged With Lying To Congress About Anonymous Leaks

Courts

James Comey

It was a long time coming.
On Thursday, it was announced that a grand jury had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/morning-brief-comey-charged-ice-shooter-investigated-californias-crime-wave-intensifies?author=Morning+Wire&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Morning+Brief%3A+Comey+Charged%2C+ICE+Shooter+Investigated+%26+California%E2%80%99s+Crime+Wave+Intensifies">indicted</a> a longtime target of President Trump&#8217;s, former FBI director James Comey.
James Comey has been on President Trump&#8217;s so-called target list for a very long time, going all the way back to when President Trump fired him during his first term. He fired him because James Comey almost certainly bootstrapped into the press the so-called Steele dossier. He promoted the Trump/Russia collusion hoax. He was deeply involved in every aspect of that — up to and including the use of the Steele dossier — in documents that were presented directly to President Trump, which was then used as an excuse by the media to push the Steele dossier, a compendium of lies about President Trump, into public view.
There have been open questions about whether James Comey, over the intervening years in which he testified repeatedly in front of Congress, among others, had actually committed perjury.
It is a very, very, very short indictment, a page and a half maximum. It accuses Comey by stating he “did willfully and knowingly make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch of the Government of the United States, by falsely stating to a U.S. Senator during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he, James B. Comey Jr., had not ‘authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports’ regarding an FBI investigation concerning” President Trump.
The indictment continues, “That statement was false, because, as James B. Comey Jr. then and there knew, he in fact had authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation concerning” Trump.
The allegation is that there was a person lower down at the FBI who leaked to the press details involving the investigation into President Trump, and it is suggested that the person was authorized by Comey illegally to do that, and Comey subsequently lied about it. Or, if he had the authority to authorize the leak, he lied about it.
That lie is count one, which is the perjury charge. Count two is obstruction of a congressional proceeding, saying then on that same date, based on that same testimony, Comey did “corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct, and impede the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which an investigation was being had before the Senate Judiciary Committee by making false and misleading statements before that committee.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2287-breaking-former-fbi-director-james-comey-indicted-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
That is the entirety of the indictment. It is very specific. It is presumably about one or two lines in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The reason it&#8217;s being brought so quickly is because there&#8217;s a five-year statute of limitations on perjury charges. Comey’s testimony was September 30, 2020. It is now September 26, 2025, so we are about to expire on that statute of limitations.
It appears from much of the public information that this isn&#8217;t a particularly well-predicated indictment, and the indictment itself is quite weak and that it&#8217;s unlikely to survive in court.
Many of the things mentioned for the possibility of indictment of Comey are immoral and display ethics much worse than this.
But that&#8217;s not what he&#8217;s being indicted for.
At the end of the day, the indictment that&#8217;s left is pretty simple. Comey either lied about leaking to The New York Times in a tantrum because he was getting fired or he didn&#8217;t.
James Comey has decided to do what no one should ever do when hit with an indictment, which is to go directly on camera and talk. First rule of lawyering: Tell your client to shut the hell up.
But Comey <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/25/defiant-comey-video-defense-donald-trump-00581806">publicly stated</a>: 
<blockquote>My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump, but we couldn&#8217;t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees. And you shouldn&#8217;t either. Somebody that I love dearly, recently said that fear is the tool of a tyrant. And she&#8217;s right. But I&#8217;m not afraid. And I hope you&#8217;re not either. I hope instead you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it, which it does. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I&#8217;m innocent. So let&#8217;s have a trial. And keep the faith.</blockquote>
He is simply the worst. Such a self-aggrandizing ridiculous figure.
This person had brought our country to the brink — in terms of the Justice Department, the FBI — for basically a decade, and it turns out he was one of the most ridiculous figures in the history of American public service. Truly a ridiculous figure, not only blowing the Hillary Clinton investigation, but blowing the Donald Trump investigation, manipulating the release, effectively, of the Steele dossier, and then using his perch as the guy who got fired by Donald Trump in order to launch salvos at Donald Trump over and over and over again, while walking through the forest and taking selfies of himself, or walking on the beach and taking pictures of shells on the beach, saying, “86 Donald Trump.”
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a></h3>
So don&#8217;t mistake my questions about the indictment, that I somehow believe that James Comey is deserving of tremendous sympathy. I do not think that James Comey is worthy of tremendous sympathy. He was an awful director of the FBI, a joke of a public figure, and his “I&#8217;m standing up to authority. I am the hero standing in the breach” posturing is silly.
He&#8217;s just a silly, silly person. That doesn&#8217;t speak to whether the criminal indictment that is being brought here is weak or strong.
We&#8217;ll see what the underlying evidence looks like on the face of it.
But as far as personal sympathy for James Comey?
The guy is a schmuck.

James Comey Promotes His New Book FDR Drive At Barnes And Nobles In New York

The Comey Indictment

Ben Shapiro

Opinion

President Trump

Steele Dossier

U.S. Senate

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel cleared a very low bar when it came to their comments on the murder of conservative superstar Charlie Kirk.
They said all the right things about the assassination. It was the least they could have done.
Kimmel touched on “gun violence,” but kept the messaging to a minimum via his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOb8B9xjgZJ/">Instagram feed</a>.
<blockquote>Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.</blockquote>
Colbert <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-death-stephen-colbert-jimmy-kimmel/86089661007/">addressed</a> the assassination on-air:
<blockquote>Our condolences go out to his family and all of his loved ones … I&#8217;m old enough to personally remember the political violence of the 1960s, and I hope it is obvious to everyone in America that political violence does not solve any of our political differences. Political violence only leads to more political violence.</blockquote>
Good. And better than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/if-hes-not-fired-this-doesnt-matter-msnbc-trashed-over-charlie-kirk-coverage-lame-apology?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=MSNBC+Trashed+Over+Lame+Apology+After+Commentator+Suggests+Charlie+Kirk+Assassination+Was+Justified">some MSNBC pundits</a> or Democrats who quickly used Kirk’s passing as <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jb-pritzker-condemns-political-violence-after-charlie-kirks-death-says-trumps-rhetoric-often-foments-it">another cudgel</a> against President Donald Trump.
But wait.
It’s not an accident that the shooter reportedly carved hard-left, anti-fascist, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/details-revealed-about-suspected-charlie-kirk-assassins-leftist-ideology">messages</a> on his bullet casings. More importantly, why would anyone want to kill a God-fearing conservative who specialized in having cordial debates with those who don’t agree with his worldview?
Kirk stared down unhinged college students, calmly letting them speak before deftly deconstructing their arguments. He didn’t shout or belittle them. He wanted to make a connection, to share why he feels the way he feels.
Is that the MAGA image Colbert and Kimmel invoke from their bully pulpits? Hardly. And while you’re at it, what about Seth Meyers or John Oliver? These hard-Left comedians don’t simply traffic in political satire. They use their platforms to savage all things conservative.
<div id="attachment_468177" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468177" class="size-large wp-image-468177" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-866x576.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
They manipulate facts and feast on hoaxes — Russian collusion, anyone? They pounce on news stories that quickly prove to be incorrect: The strike on <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/1199026/stephen-colbert-trump-f-bomb-rant-monologue-video/">Iran’s nuclear weapons</a> program did zero damage, right?
While Bill Maher offers left-leaning monologues with balance and bite, Colbert and co. go scorched earth. Nightly. Their comedy routines paint President Trump and anyone on his MAGA train in the most unflattering terms possible.
“[If You] ‘have to tell people I’m not Hitler, something is wrong,” Kimmel once said in a typical attack.
Colbert routinely plays a similar card, <a href="https://www.aol.com/stephen-colbert-says-kelly-hitler-142733106.html">feasting on wobbly news articles</a> to buttress his points.
Hilarious.
Kimmel infamously cried, on air, the night after President Trump won re-election late last year. Between sobs, he described a frightening scenario under Trump 2.0.
<blockquote>It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and democracy and decency.</blockquote>
<a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-monologue-trump-win-tears-1236203362/">It wasn’t comedy</a>. It was pure fear-mongering.
<div id="attachment_933335" style="width: 903px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-933335" class="size-large wp-image-933335" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-893x576.jpg" alt="Jimmy Kimmel" width="893" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-893x576.jpg 893w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-300x194.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-768x495.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 893px) 100vw, 893px" />Easterseals/Getty Images for Easterseals</div>
What does this have to do with Kirk? Well, everything. Late-night liberals paint Trump and his MAGA faithful with a very broad brush, and they have for some time.
Remember how the far-Left “Saturday Night Live” created a faux Trump campaign ad all the way back in 2016 that depicted his voters <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0pO9VG1J8">as KKK members and Nazis</a>?
It hasn’t gotten better since then.
Plus, Kirk had plenty to do with the president’s re-election. His bond with young voters was legendary. He worked in tandem with Trump’s messaging to get him back in the White House, powered partly by youthful voters who saw more than a few of Kirk’s legendary debate smackdowns.
Every article about his murder tied Kirk to Trump.
Blaming extreme rhetoric for real-world violence shouldn’t be done lightly, and it’s always more complicated than it sounds. This isn’t a new political tactic. President Bill Clinton proved that maxim when he immediately called out right-wing talk radio <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/flashback-how-clinton-exploited-oklahoma-city-for-political-gain/article_4a5b06ba-cea5-539a-8eed-ea3bd45d3d67.html">following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing</a>.
That was politically expedient and foolhardy. Compared to modern political rhetoric, talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh was a veritable pussycat. Plus, whatever sway right-wing radio had at the time was minuscule compared to the bigger media picture today.
Would-be assassins can now feast on extreme Fake News from CNN, MSNBC or other dishonest outlets. Or, they can listen to a month’s worth of late-night monologues. The foul messaging hits us from all sides in 2025. It’s the new abnormal.
Free speech still matters, of course. We shouldn’t silence a late-night host for resorting to extreme talking points, Fake News and hate. That’s a slippery slope and legitimately scary.
They still should take a long, hard look in the mirror to grasp what they’re injecting into the body politic. Will Kirk’s shocking murder make that happen?
If past is prologue, absolutely not. The assassination attempt against Trump last year proves it.
Ironically, Kirk cheered on “South Park” when the venerable series took direct aim at him last month. The series showed Cartman becoming a “master debater” via the “Got a Nut?” episode, his hairstyle directly copying Kirk’s signature ‘do.
It wasn’t an accident. And Kirk greeted the satirical takedown with a smile.
Why? It wasn’t cruel or meant to injure. It was political comedy, and he recognized it as such.
<blockquote>There’s going to be a lot said about this, but we need to have a good spirit about being made fun of. This is all a success, this is all a win. We as conservatives, we have thick skin, not thin skin, and you can make fun of us, and it doesn’t matter.</blockquote>
He got the joke. Sometimes, there’s nothing funny about what comics like Kimmel and Colbert add to the conversation.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-13-Sep-2025-06-37-PM-4553

Colbert And Kimmel Clear A Low Bar With Late-Night Condolences

assassination

Charlie Kirk

Comedy

Entertainment

Jimmy Kimmel

Leftists

Stephen Colbert

Between 1999 and 2005, Lance Armstrong’s cycling performance simply defied belief, with an unprecedented seven consecutive wins of the Tour de France. As writer Xander Lytle <a href="https://themacweekly.com/84147/sports/the-armstrong-effect-american-cyclings-tainted-history/">stated</a>, “It is hard to exaggerate just how astounding Armstrong’s feats were.” He points out that in its 100+-year history, only four riders had ever achieved as many as five Tour de France victories and only one of them had won those consecutively. Prior to his historic accomplishments, Armstrong was a survivor of testicular cancer — and he touted that experience as giving him the renewed grit, focus, and strength to perform at a higher level. 
His skeptics were treated by most media outlets as nasty, unpatriotic, conspiracy nuts who were simply wrong at best and malevolent at worst. Armstrong personally chose the latter tact, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/16/us/lance-armstrong-quotes">labeling his detractors</a> as desperate for attention and money, as being filled with hate, bitterness, and jealousy, by proclaiming investigations of him to be “witch-hunts,” and threatening and filing libel suits. He told some critics that he was sorry for them because they could not “believe in miracles.” 
Armstrong’s <a href="https://www.si.com/cycling/2020/02/11/lance-armstrong-livestrong-charity-rebrand-years-later">Livestrong</a> charity also provided a sort of layer of moral protection, buffering against charges of ill will. Most of the media applauded his efforts and ignored and attacked critics — some even contending that attempts to reach the truth were <a href="https://time.com/archive/7133755/why-the-wheels-came-off-the-lance-armstrong-case/">prosecutorial overreach</a>. The Armstrong team often rewarded the supportive media with exclusive interviews and punished critical outlets by denying them access.
<div id="attachment_964573" style="width: 501px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-964573" class="size-large wp-image-964573" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-103092847-491x576.jpg" alt="PARIS - JULY 25: Lance Armstrong of team Radioshack waves to fans after the twentieth and final stage of Le Tour de France 2010, from Longjumeau to the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 25, 2010 in Paris, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)" width="491" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-103092847-491x576.jpg 491w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-103092847-256x300.jpg 256w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-103092847-768x901.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-103092847.jpg 873w" sizes=" (max-width: 491px) 100vw, 491px" />Bryn Lennon/Getty Images</div>
But eventually, with pressure mounting from both the incredulity of the performance itself, a detailed report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and a few dogged media outlets (most notably <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/drugs-cheat-armstrong-settles-with-sunday-times-2qkrw7qsj9k?region=global">The Sunday Times</a> and <a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/2012/10/22/a-massive-fraud-now-more-fully-exposed">Sports Illustrated</a>), Armstrong finally confessed in a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had used banned performance-enhancing drugs, such as erythropoietin, human growth hormones and diuretics for years, including in all seven of his victories. Significantly, his testimony came after the statute of limitations had run on his previous perjured testimony denying such usage.
For a decade-plus, Armstrong had pulled off perhaps the greatest hoax in sports history. His victories and his cancer survivor status was a made-for-Hollywood comeback story that most of the world devoured, making him celebrated, adored, and wealthy — one of which remains true today. Armstrong’s estimated net worth <a href="https://www.finance-monthly.com/lance-armstrong-net-worth/">is still around $50m</a>. He is also credited with creating a sort of <a href="https://themacweekly.com/84147/sports/the-armstrong-effect-american-cyclings-tainted-history/">Dark Age for American cycling</a> from which it still has yet to recover. In a far broader arena, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Americans were subjected to another protracted hoax. It involved a consortium of senior-most Democrat leaders, key governmental agencies, private sector intermediaries, and major media players. The hoax went something like this: Successful billionaire Donald Trump worked closely with Vladimir Putin as a sort of Manchurian candidate aiming to illegally rig the 2016 election which Hillary Clinton had legitimately won. Mr. Trump did all of this chiefly because President Putin was blackmailing him with a secretly recorded raunchy sex tape featuring Russian hookers and Mr. Trump.. President Trump was therefore a treasonous criminal, a Russian asset, pervert, and illegitimate president.
On its face, that narrative was even less believable than one man legitimately winning seven consecutive Tour de France competitions. Nonetheless, that was the story fed to Americans for nearly a decade. Many of the tactics used to promote this hoax were quite similar to those employed by the Armstrong team, only on steroids (pun intended).
In many ways, the Russia hoax was quite successful. At its peak in 2017, some <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-poll-majority-americans-think-president-trump-meddled-russia-probe?">68% of Americans</a> polled by AP indicated that they were at least moderately concerned that President Trump or his campaign associates had ties to Russia. That narrative helped hobble the Trump presidency for most of his term and made it nearly impossible for him to have a productive relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. Additionally, it surely had a significant but immeasurable impact on the 2020 election. 
Even prior to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tulsis-bombshell-team-obama-doctored-intel-to-push-russiagate?author=Ben+Shapiro&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Tulsi%E2%80%99s+Bombshell%3A+Team+Obama+Doctored+Intel+To+Push+Russiagate">recent revelations</a> of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel, the Russia Hoax was beginning to unwind from the gradual exposure of the truth — the Hillary Clinton campaign sponsorship of the now debunked “Steele Dossier,” the lack of evidence in the much anticipated Mueller Report, and the Durham Report which concluded that there never should have been a Trump/Russia collusion investigation.
<div id="attachment_956619" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-956619" class="size-large wp-image-956619" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2226690172-864x576.jpg" alt="White House Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2226690172-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2226690172-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2226690172-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2226690172.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div>
However, the new revelations from Gabbard and Patel — most significantly, the newly declassified and previously <a href="http://www.odni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/DIG/DIG-Declassified-HPSCI-Report-Manufactured-Russia-Hoax-July2025.pdf">unreleased report</a> from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) — solidifies the deserved descriptor of “hoax” in “Russia Hoax.” They allege that President Obama <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tulsi-gabbard-releases-damning-email-that-puts-clapper-in-the-hot-seat?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Tulsi+Gabbard+Releases+Damning+Email+That+Puts+Clapper+In+The+Hot+Seat">directed</a> top intelligence officials — James Clapper, John Brennan, and James Comey — to fabricate the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) concluding that Russia favored Trump in the 2016 election. They further contend that internal emails demonstrate that officials pressured analysts to adjust their original conclusions — which countered their preferred conclusion — and support the claim that Trump had worked in concert with the Russians, despite the lack of sufficient evidence to support that. “Creating this piece of manufactured intelligence… contradicted every other assessment,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NcStDaGFug">Gabbard told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo</a>. According to Gabbard, so began a years-long coup to stifle and hopefully overthrow Trump’s presidency.
Kash Patel also revealed the discovery of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kash-patel-finds-secret-fbi-room-filled-with-thousands-of-trump-russia-docs-in-burn-bags">burn bags</a>” and hard drives of evidence dating back to the early days of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. He claims it contains a 29-page annex to the Durham Report which had never been publicly disclosed and includes intelligence suggesting foreign sources warned U.S. officials that the FBI was preparing to spread disinformation implicating Trump’s campaign. Director Patel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/evidence-of-clinton-russia-hoax-was-buried-in-back-room-at-fbi-kash-patel?author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Evidence+Of+Clinton+Russia+Hoax+Was+%E2%80%98Buried+In+Back+Room%E2%80%99+At+FBI%3A+Kash+Patel">contends</a> that FBI leaders James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok all played roles in attempting to conceal or destroy evidence related to the Russia probe.
In both of these protracted hoaxes Americans were asked to believe outlandish tales — with those most wanting to believe the narratives most likely to embrace them — whether that was adulation of a cancer survivor whose extraordinary will power and physical strength helped propel him to super-human outcomes, or whether it was demonization of an evil, traitorous, Machiavellian candidate who would use any means necessary to win an election and preserve his reputation.
In both hoaxes the media played a central role in perpetuating the frauds through their blind allegiance to one narrative and abandonment of basic investigative journalism, and use of their outlets for relentless and pervasive repetition of false narratives. 
In both cases the same sources that actively worked to perpetrate the hoaxes worked to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/legacy-media-outlets-largely-silent-tulsi-gabbards-bombshell-obama-administration-claims">ignore</a> any new evidence discrediting them — in the latter case calling Gabbard’s and Patel’s revelations an attempt at “distraction.”
In both hoaxes, disbelievers received an assortment of labels — “jealous losers,&#8221; &#8220;unpatriotic conspiracy theorists,&#8221; &#8220;fascist sympathizers,&#8221; &#8220;deplorables,” and far worse. In fact, we now know that in both hoaxes whistleblowers received <a href="https://www.mountbonnell.info/lances-austin/former-teammate-exposes-lance-armstrong-doping-scandal">backlash</a>, and were <a href="https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2025/4093-pr-19-25">threatened and silenced</a>, and supporters were rewarded. With the Russia Hoax, skeptics were denigrated by governmental leaders and media alike. And in both hoaxes the statute of limitations protected apparently guilty parties — testimony to the longevity of the campaigns and coverup.
In both hoaxes the damage was more extensive than we are likely able to ever measure — involving massive erosion of trust in a host of institutions — athletics in general, charities, intelligence agencies, government, international relations, and media.
Of course, there were some major differences between the two hoaxes. The first was simply scope. One of the hoaxes was primarily confined to the world of athletics, involving a relatively small number of people from the Armstrong camp in concert with ongoing albeit likely unwitting help from the media. The other involved the sanctity of our very Republic with willing participation across a wide spectrum of institutions — the Democrat party leadership, multiple governmental agencies and their leaders — perhaps including the sitting president of the United States, and top legacy and independent media agencies around the world.
A second difference was in the purpose of each hoax. One was perpetrated to falsely elevate, enrich, and celebrate a fraudster, while the other was designed for precisely the opposite reason — to smear and denigrate a legitimate and successful president. One was created to conceal a truth — unfair and illegal doping, while the other was created in an attempt to establish a falsehood as truth — Trump/Russian collusion. In Armstrong’s case, the hoax was dependent on hiding key evidence (presence of drugs). While some hiding of evidence was also true in the Russia Hoax — with plenty of exculpatory evidence being buried or ignored — the primary focus was on fabricating supportive evidence. Further, the fabricated evidence became the predicate for additional falsehoods and illegal actions — such as <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2017/09/04/12-times-msm-told-us-obama-wiretapped-trump/">wiretapping</a> the Trump campaign.
Mark Twain once observed that, “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” Indeed, un-ringing the Russia Hoax bell may well prove to be a Herculean task. That false narrative was promoted so authoritatively, so thoroughly, so pervasively, and for so long that many people and media outlets will find it difficult to accept the truth — especially those who may have <a href="https://www.heritage.org/civil-society/commentary/will-new-york-times-washington-post-return-pulitzer-misleading-russia">received prestigious awards</a> for their false coverage of the story.
CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post published thousands of stories referencing Trump and Russia during the peak of the hoax. At the height of the investigation, some networks ran multiple segments per day focused on potential collusion, often leading with it in prime-time programming. In a peer-reviewed study published in Journalism titled “A catastrophic media failure? Russiagate, Trump and the illusion of truth: The dangers of innuendo and narrative repetition,” the authors call the coverage a “catastrophic media failure,” emphasizing the Illusory Truth Effect — where repetition of unverified claims led audiences to believe them as fact.
The truth has reason for hope. A new <a href="https://americanfaith.com/rasmussen-poll-u-s-voters-strongly-prefer-capitalism-to-socialism/">Rasmussen poll</a> shows that the percentage of Americans who believe that President Trump’s 2016 campaign likely colluded with Russia is now down to 42% with most of those being Democrats — but that is still a big number. As the evidence continues to mount, that number will almost certainly continue to shrink — and who knows; if we get an Armstrong-Oprah-type moment with full confessions, it may actually plummet.
* * *
Greg Salsbury, Ph.D. is former president of Western Colorado University and Board of Advisor member for <a href="https://starrs.us">STARRS.US</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-24-Aug-2025-12-24-PM-4413

Anatomy Of A Hoax: From Lance Armstrong To Russiagate

Lance Armstrong

Legacy Media

Tour de France

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday stripped security clearances from dozens of current and former intelligence officials who “abused the public trust.”
Gabbard announced the move in a post on X, releasing a memo that names 37 current and former intelligence officials, some with ties to an Obama-era intelligence assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Gabbard, at the direction of President Donald Trump, “directed the revocation of the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence professionals who have abused the public trust by politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards,” said Gabbard in a statement.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right. Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold. In… <a href="https://t.co/23DUNuVAi0">pic.twitter.com/23DUNuVAi0</a>
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1957893651327332529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
The officials who have had their security access yanked include ex-Principal Deputy DNI Stephanie O’Sullivan and Vinh Nguyen. Both O’Sullivan and Nguyen aided former DNI James Clapper in assembling the controversial intelligence assessment that determined that “the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.”
“The President has directed that, effective immediately, the security clearances of the following 37 individuals are revoked. Their access to classified systems, facilities, materials, and information is to be terminated forthwith. Any contracts or employment with the U.S. Government by these 37 individuals is hereby terminated. Any credentials held by these individuals must be surrendered to the appropriate security officers,” Gabbard’s August 18 memo states.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Gabbard has released a trove of documents and communications related to the intelligence assessment in recent weeks, increasing scrutiny of former President Barack Obama and his team of intelligence officials.
The assessment was ordered in early December weeks after the 2016 election and concluded in roughly a month, an extraordinary timeline for an assessment that typically should have taken a year or more to investigate and assemble, according to documents released by Gabbard.
Files released by Gabbard show that on December 7, 2016, an intelligence assessment determined that Russia likely did not meaningfully interfere in the 2016 election. The assessment was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gabbard-fires-back-at-obama-after-he-denies-guilt-in-russia-collusion-hoax-the-art-of-deflection">scrapped</a> the next day “based on new guidance” received by the assessment’s editor.
On December 9, a meeting was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-admin-suppressed-intel-showing-russia-didnt-impact-2016-election-tulsi-reveals">called</a> at the White House between Obama and his top national security officials. Afterward, the new assessment was ordered and completed less than a month later.

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Yanks Security Clearances Of 37 Intel Officials Over Russiagate: ‘Abused The Public Trust’

Democrat Senator Adam Schiff directed the leaking of classified documents to target President Donald Trump and influence public opinion, according to whistleblower claims in newly declassified FBI documents.
A whistleblower who worked for the Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee told the FBI that Schiff had pushed for the leaking of classified documents in a meeting after Trump&#8217;s election in 2016, according to a <a href="https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2025-08/Democratic%20HPSCI%20Staffer%20-%20FBI%20Interview%20Notes.pdf">summary</a> of the interview <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/congress/exclusive-democrat-whistleblower-told-fbi-schiff-approved-leaking-classified">obtained</a> by Just the News. Schiff was a major proponent of the discredited narrative that Trump schemed with the Russians to get elected in 2016. 
The whistleblower claimed that Schiff orchestrated a plan to hurt Trump by leaking classified documents, according to the interview.
“In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to Indict President TRUMP,” the FBI memo said. “[Redacted] stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured [Redacted] that they would not be caught leaking classified information.”
The whistleblower believed that this leaking would be &#8220;unethical,&#8221; &#8220;illegal,&#8221; and “treasonous.”  The whistleblower was later “approached about leaking classified information in a separate meeting by unnamed individuals,” the FBI memo says. 
The interview documents were declassified by FBI Director Kash Patel. 
“We found it. We declassified it,” Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1955068719815684196">posted</a> on X. “Now Congress can see how classified info was leaked to shape political narratives — and decide if our institutions were weaponized against the American people.”
Over the course of several years, the whistleblower conducted multiple interviews with the FBI which were then summarized by the agent who conducted the interviews in a series of memos.
In one August 2017 interview, the whistleblower said that Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence believed that they could bring down Trump with document leaks to the media. 
“Schiff believed Russia hijacked the election, and the United States was in the middle of a constitutional crisis. Classified information began leaking to the media. The Democratic minority leadership of HPSCI was aware of the leaks but was under the impression that leaking the information was one way to topple the administration and fix the constitutional crisis,” the whistleblower told the FBI. 
In another interview from December 5, 2017, the whistleblower reportedly said that Schiff was &#8220;particularly upset” after the election of Trump because he believed that Hillary Clinton would have appointed him CIA director. 
The whistleblower claimed that Schiff told staff to gather information about Trump and Russia that would “be made public through the media in order to compel public opinion.”
In one instance, the whistleblower noticed that a sensitive document viewed in the summer of 2017 by a few members of the committee “appeared in the news almost verbatim” within 24 hours of its review. 
The whistleblower “suspected that [Rep. Eric Swalwell] played a role in the leak and noted that SWALWELL previously had been warned to be careful because he had a reputation for leaking classified information.”
According to the whistleblower, Schiff believed that the strategy of leaking documents was protected by the speech and debate clause that gives lawmakers immunity for what they say during legislative actions. 
A spokesman for Schiff called the whistleblower allegations not credible.
&#8220;Kash Patel’s latest smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false, and is just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal,&#8221; the spokesman said. &#8220;These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee.&#8221;
Patel has sent the FBI memos over to Congress for review. 
&#8220;For years, certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives,&#8221; Patel told Just the News on Monday. &#8220;It was all done with one purpose: to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain.”
This story has been updated with comment from Schiff&#8217;s office.

Senate Takes Up Budget Bill Passed By House As Funding Deadline Looms

Adam Schiff Directed Release Of Classified Info To Target Trump: Whistleblower

Adam Schiff Directed Released Of Classified Info To Target Trump: Whistleblower

Adam Schiff

Documents that indicate Hillary Clinton <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hillary-clinton-greenlit-russia-hoax-to-hide-email-scandal-declassified-docs-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> a Russia collusion hoax against her rival Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign were &#8220;buried in a back room,&#8221; FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday.
He made the comment after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-durham-bombshell-obama-era-fbi-allowed-trump-russia-hoax-to-fester" target="_blank" rel="noopener">release</a> of a newly declassified annex from former Special Counsel John Durham that discussed how the Obama-era FBI appeared to ignore intelligence that indicated Clinton&#8217;s campaign, its supporters, or Russian disinformation fueled allegations of ties between Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Moscow in order to distract from the controversy over her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State.
&#8220;We uncovered this annex, along with thousands of other documents, buried in a back room at the FBI,&#8221; Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1951012713930354869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;It revealed a highly classified piece of the Durham report: evidence that the Clinton campaign plotted to frame President Trump and fabricate the Russia collusion hoax. We worked with Chairman Grassley and declassified the documents immediately. And now the American people can see the truth for themselves. The Russia hoax was a disgrace that President Trump and our country should’ve never been put through.&#8221;
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a lead Russia-gate investigator who pushed for the declassification of the annex, released the document on Thursday.
&#8220;This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history,&#8221; Grassley said in a statement. &#8220;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.&#8221;
Attorney General Pam Bondi has already initiated a new &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-to-form-strike-force-to-assess-weaponization-of-intel-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike force</a>&#8221; tasked with evaluating the evidence relating the Obama administration&#8217;s efforts to drive the Russia collusion allegations in response to various documents the Trump administration has been releasing to the public, such as findings that allegedly show officials in the Obama administration <a href="https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2025/4090-pr-18-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manufactured and manipulated</a> intelligence regarding Russia to undermine Trump.
The declassified <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">annex</a>, which still contains some redactions, spoke of how the FBI received information detailing a plan that Clinton purportedly approved to use firms to spread disinformation through media, expecting the bureau to &#8220;put more oil into the fire&#8221; and distract from her email scandal. Durham also wrote how it seemed the FBI &#8220;dismissed&#8221; the intelligence as &#8220;not credible without any investigative steps actually having been taken to either corroborate or disprove the allegations.”
Former President Barack Obama and top national security veterans from his administration have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/opinion/trump-obama-treason-russia-miller.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed back</a> on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-denies-bizarre-trump-claims-of-2016-election-hoax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> of there being a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy,&#8221; but the Trump administration has pledged to keep on digging into the matter.
&#8220;This should be a step toward justice,&#8221; Patel said in his post on X. &#8220;There will be more to come. Your FBI will keep being relentless to get the truth out. We’re thankful for federal partners [at the Justice Department, CIA] and more. And thank you [Grassley] for your tireless investigative work.&#8221;

FBI Director Kash Patel

Evidence Of Clinton Russia Hoax Was ‘Buried In Back Room’ At FBI: Kash Patel

2016 Election

Hillary Clinton

John Durham

kash patel

U.S.

Newly declassified intelligence documents released Thursday revealed Hillary Clinton personally approved a campaign plan to &#8220;smear&#8221; then-candidate Donald Trump with false Russian collusion claims to distract from her email scandal during the 2016 presidential race.
Special counsel John Durham uncovered the information during his multi-year investigation into intelligence activities during the 2016 election.
The <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/895553887/Declassified-Durham-Annex-Released-by-Chairman-Grassley#download&amp;from_embed">intelligence</a>, released Monday by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), came from two memos obtained by the Obama administration containing &#8220;confidential conversations&#8221; between members of the DNC and George Soros&#8217;s Open Society Foundations before the 2016 election.
According to the declassified files, Clinton personally approved a plan proposed by her foreign policy advisor, Julianne Smith, to &#8220;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.&#8221; Smith was later appointed to serve as Ambassador to NATO under President Joe Biden.
One stunning email written by Open Society Foundations Senior Vice President Leonard Bernardo, dated July 27, 2016, stated: &#8220;HRC [Hillary Clinton] approved Julia&#8217;s [sic] idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections. That should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level.&#8221;
&#8220;The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue,&#8221; Bernado continued, adding, &#8220;In absence of direct evidence, Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect will supply the media, and GRU [Russia&#8217;s foreign intelligence arm] will hopefully carry on to give more facts.&#8221;
Durham’s team spoke with analysts and officers who assessed these emails were likely authentic. The special counsel&#8217;s team believe the emails, apparently from Benardo, were a &#8220;composite&#8221; of emails hacked by Russian intelligence from U.S. think tanks.
The Clinton campaign&#8217;s plan included &#8220;raising the theme of &#8216;Putin&#8217;s support for Trump'&#8221; and pushing public opinion to &#8220;equate&#8221; the Russian leader&#8217;s influence campaign with actual election infrastructure hacking. It also involved distributing &#8220;the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated … technical structures … in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications,&#8221; according to another email from Bernardo.
The email predicted that the FBI would &#8220;put more oil into the fire&#8221; of the Russia collusion narrative, with Obama even <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/31/us-news/hillary-clinton-approved-plan-hatched-by-campaign-aides-to-smear-trump-with-russia-collusion-declassified-docs/">considering</a> shutting down the bureau&#8217;s investigation into Clinton&#8217;s emails, according to the New York Post.
&#8220;Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign&#8217;s efforts to tie Trump to Russia,&#8221; Durham concluded.
Senator Chuck Grassley <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/newly-declassified-appendix-to-durham-report-sheds-additional-light-on-clinton-campaign-plan-to-falsely-tie-trump-to-russia-and-fbis-failure-to-investigate">said</a> in a statement: &#8220;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&#8217;s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means.&#8221;
&#8220;The American people deserve the full, unfiltered truth about the Russia collusion hoax and the political abuse of our justice system it exposed,&#8221; FBI Director Kash Patel stated, characterizing it as &#8220;one of the most shameful frauds ever perpetrated on the American public.&#8221;
The Russia collusion narrative dominated headlines for years during the first Trump administration. It led to multiple investigations, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s probe, which ultimately found no evidence of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President

Hillary Clinton Greenlit Russia Hoax To Hide Email Scandal, Declassified Docs Reveal

Barack Obama

Christopher Steele

Elections

Trump Administration

Menu