Category: fox-news/news-events/russia-investigation

New Schiff leak claim from whistleblower echoes years of similar accusations

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Longtime Trump political foe Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff for years has been accused of leaking classified documents — long before the release of a "bombshell" whistleblower testimony claiming the California lawmaker approved leaking classified information in order to discredit the president during the Russiagate probe, Fox News Digital found. 

Schiff, who served in the U.S. House for more than two decades before securing his spot in the U.S. Senate in 2024, is facing heightened scrutiny following FBI Director Kash Patel declassifying claims from a Democrat whistleblower that Schiff approved the release of classified information on Trump that allegedly "would be used to indict President TRUMP," according to the report. 

The whistleblower, who reportedly had worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years, made the claims to the FBI in 2017. Schiff had access to classified information while serving on the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in the lower chamber, including serving as its chair from 2019 to 2023. 

"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," according to the whistleblower documents.

WHITE HOUSE REACTS TO DEM WHISTLEBLOWER’S ‘BOMBSHELL’ CLAIM SCHIFF LEAKED TO HIT TRUMP

The whistleblower "stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information," the report added.

Schiff has denied the allegations, with his office telling Fox News Digital Aug. 12 that the allegations were "absolutely and categorically false."

But this isn't the first time Schiff has been accused of leaking classified information to the public, with accusations following him since at least the first Trump administration. Fox News Digital took a look back at Schiff's political history in recent years and gathered the times he previously had been accused of leaking classified materials. 

The August declassified whistleblower accusations are "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," a Schiff spokesperson told Fox Digital when approached for comment on the allegations, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the whistleblower's account a "bombshell." 

TRUMP-FOE ADAM SCHIFF DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD'S DECLASSIFIED RUSSIA COLLUSION INTELLIGENCE AS 'DISHONEST'

"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," the spokesperson continued. "Even Trump’s own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found this individual to not be credible, have ‘little support for their contentions’ and was of ‘unknown reliability,’ and concluded that his accusations against Members of Congress and congressional staff ‘were not ultimately substantiated.’" 

Just days after former President Joe Biden was sworn-in as president in January 2021, Trump's former acting director of national intelligence and U.S. ambassador from his first administration Ric Grenell took to X to list out "facts" regarding Schiff. 

"Facts," a Jan. 22, 2021, post on X that is no longer available on the social media site read. The X post received media attention and was preserved in reports at the time, such as the Washington Examiner. 

He listed off: "Schiff wouldn’t return my call to coordinate on DNI reforms. - the reforms were asked for by career officials for years. -Schiff complained when I appointed the 1st female head of counterterrorism (a career person). -Schiff & team regularly leaked classified information."

Grenell's message was in response to Schiff claiming in an interview with The Hill that Grennell and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe under the first Trump administration "bent intelligence work products to the president’s will."

TRUMP INVOKES RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX WHILE CALLING FOR LONGTIME FOE SCHIFF TO FACE JAIL TIME

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, probably the most devastated of all of the agencies by terrible leadership of people like Rick Grenell and John Ratcliffe," Schiff said during a video interview at the time. 

Fast-forward to 2023, former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who served under the first Trump administration, also accused Schiff of leaking classified docs. 

"Adam Schiff lied to the American people, and during my time as CIA director and secretary of State, I know that he leaked classified information that had been provided to him," Pompeo said in January 2023 during a Fox News interview.

Pompeo continued that he "held back" sharing information with the House Intelligence Committee due to not feeling "comfortable" when Schiff led the panel. 

A representative for Pompeo told Fox Digital in August that the former Trump official stands by his 2023 comments on Schiff. 

Schiff's office slammed Pompeo's remarks at the time as "another patently false and defamatory statement." 

Trump had also accused Schiff of leaking classified documents under his first administration, claiming in 2018, he was the "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington."

"Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!" Trump continued wrote in one X thread at the time. 

Schiff shot back at the time that Trump's X post was a "false smear."

"Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of ‘Executive Time.’ Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or...really anything else," Schiff responded to Trump in February 2018. 

As Trump railed against the alleged leaks during his first term, reports spread that the Department of Justice subpoenaed Apple for account data of House Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, including Schiff, between 2017 and 2018. The DOJ, which was led by Jeff Sessions at the time, was searching for individuals who leaked to the media about Trump's alleged ties to Russia. 

The investigation dragged, including after Bill Barr was tapped as Trump's attorney general in 2019 through the end of Trump's first term, the New York Times reported in 2021, citing sources familiar with the investigation. 

The Justice Department's internal watchdog, under the Biden administration, opened an investigation into the subpoenas and published a report in 2024 that found the Trump DOJ did not comply with established procedures when it sought the records.

"We are glad that the Department of Justice Inspector General conducted a thorough investigation, and that the Inspector General has recommended safeguards to further protect the media, and to safeguard the separation of powers," a spokesperson for Schiff said following the release of the report, according to Reuters in 2024. 

As the 2020 campaign heated up, Trump continued accusing Schiff and other House Democrats of leaking, with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence at the time scaling back its security briefings with Congress that year as high-profile Democrats promoted concerns that Russia was interfering in that election. 

"Director Ratcliffe brought information into the committee, and the information leaked," Trump said in August 2020. "Whether it was Shifty Schiff or somebody else, they leaked the information. … And what’s even worse, they leaked the wrong information. And he got tired of it. So he wants to do it in a different forum, because you have leakers on the committee."

Schiff denied leaking any classified intelligence in 2020, but said he could not confirm the same for other House Democrats.  

"I haven’t. My staff hasn’t. I can’t speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done, including a lot of the Republican members," Schiff told CNN’s Dana Bash in 2020, following Trump claiming "Shifty Schiff" may have been behind another leak of intelligence given to the House Intelligence Committee at the time. 

The Trump administration continued its laser-focused hunt to identify and suss out internal federal government leakers during the second administration, with a White House official telling Axios in June, "We are declaring a war on leakers." 

The comment came in response to a leak of an internal assessment of the Trump administration's bombing a trio of Iranian nuclear facilities that claimed the strikes were not ads effective as the president said. 

Federal agencies such as the FBI, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security have leveraged using polygraph tests on staffers suspected of leaking information under the second Trump administration. 

Trump and Schiff have long been political foes. 

This was underscored during Trump's first administration when Schiff served as the lead House manager during the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020. It also was highlighted when Schiff repeatedly promoted claims that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. 

FEDERAL HOUSING OFFICIAL SUBMITTED SCHIFF CRIMINAL REFERRAL TO DOJ OVER MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS

Schiff landed in hot water earlier this spring, when the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a letter to the Department of Justice in May sounding the alarm that in "multiple instances," Schiff allegedly "falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property."

He is currently under criminal investigation for mortgage fraud, Fox Digital previously reported. The California Democrat has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the matter is a "baseless attempt at political retribution."

Days after Trump first posted about Schiff's mortgages in Maryland and California in July, the president's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, declassified documents that reportedly show "overwhelming evidence" that then-President Barack Obama and his national security team allegedly laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe after Trump's election win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

"It lays out, these over 100 documents that you're referencing, that I declassified and released, spells out in great detail exactly what happens when you have some of the most powerful people in our country directly leading at the helm, President Obama and his senior-most national security cabinet, James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper and Susan Rice and others, essentially making a very intentional decision to create this manufactured, politicized piece of intelligence with the objective of subverting the will of the American people," Gabbard told Fox News' Sean Hannity in July following the release. 

Schiff was an incredibly vocal lawmaker amid the Russian collusion claims, most notably when the House censured him in 2023 over his promotion that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. Schiff served in the House representing California from 2001 to 2024, when he was sworn-in as a senator after his successful 2024 campaign to serve in the nation's upper chamber.

Schiff also served on the Jan. 6 select committee, which investigated the breach of the Capitol building in 2021 by Trump supporters following then-President Biden's election win. 

At the 11th hour of Biden's tenure on Jan. 20, Schiff was among lawmakers who served on the committee who were granted preemptive pardons. The subcommittee concluded Trump's actions played a key role in promoting the breach of the Capitol and recommended Trump be criminally prosecuted. 

TRUMP ACCUSES 'SCAM ARTIST' SCHIFF OF LYING ABOUT MARYLAND HOME TO COMMIT MORTGAGE FRAUD

Biden specifically granted preemptive pardons to "Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee."

Schiff, however, had publicly railed against the prospect of Biden doling out preemptive pardons, saying it would set a poor precedent. 

"First, those of us on the committee are very proud of the work we did. We were doing vital quintessential oversight of a violent attack on the Capitol," Schiff said during an interview on ABC News in December 2024. "So I think it’s unnecessary."

"But second, the precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don’t want to set," he added.

Charges stemming from the Jan. 6 case were dismissed following Trump's decisive win in the 2024 presidential election against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The White House responded to the whistleblower's declassified testimony claiming Schiff approved the release of classified information to damage Trump, and doubled down on Trump's stance that Schiff be "held accountable for the countless lies he told the American people in relation to the Russiagate scandal."

"This is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report," Leavitt said at a Tuesday White House press briefing. "Hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such."

"I understand Kash Patel, last night, declassified a 302 FBI document showing that a whistleblower, who is a Democrat, a career intelligence officer who worked for Democrats on the House Intel Committee for more than a decade, repeatedly warned the FBI in 2017 that then-Rep. Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then-President Donald Trump over the Russiagate scandal," Leavitt said. 

In August, a representative for Schiff confirmed a legal defense fund was established for the senator in response to Trump and his allies. 

"It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable," Marisol Samayoa, a spokesperson for Schiff, told Fox News Digital Tuesday evening of the legal fund. "This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job."

Titled "Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund," the fund was filed with the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, The New York Times first reported. 

White House spokesman Harrison Fields called Schiff a "fraud" and "corrupt politician" when approached for comment Tuesday regarding the legal fund.  

"Adam Schiff is a sleazy and corrupt politician who betrayed his oath to the Constitution by prioritizing his selfish and personal animosity toward the President over the interests of the American people," Fields told Fox News Digital. "No amount of money can shield Adam from the truth that he is a fraud." 

Fox News Digital reached out to Schiff for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.  

DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassified Trump-Russia docs: Here’s what they say

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a slew of documents this month, revealing that Obama administration officials "manufactured" intelligence to push the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.

Here’s a look at the newly declassified records:

Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that Russia was "probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means."

One instance was on Dec. 7, 2016, weeks after the election. Then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s talking points stated, "Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. presidential election outcome."

Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief, which was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, with reporting from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and open sources, for Obama, dated Dec. 8, 2016.

"We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent U.S. election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure," the Presidential Daily Brief stated. "Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states."

But the brief stated that it was "highly unlikely" the effort "would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result."

"Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes," it stated. 

The brief noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that any Russian activities "probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates."

The brief stated that cyber criminals "tried to steal data and to interrupt election processes by targeting election infrastructure, but these actions did not achieve a notable disruptive effect."

Fox News Digital obtained declassified, but redacted, communications from the FBI in the Presidential Daily Brief, stating that it "should not go forward until the FBI" had shared its "concerns."

Those communications revealed that the FBI drafted a "dissent" to the original Presidential Daily Brief. 

OBAMA ADMIN 'MANUFACTURED' INTELLIGENCE TO CREATE 2016 RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTS SHOW

The communications revealed that the brief was expected to be published Dec. 9, 2016, the following day, but later communications revealed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "based on some new guidance," decided to "push back publication" of the Presidential Daily Brief. 

"It will not run tomorrow and is not likely to run until next week," wrote the deputy director of the Presidential Daily Brief at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose name is redacted. 

The following day, Dec. 9, 2016, a meeting convened in the White House Situation Room, with the subject line starting: "Summary of Conclusions for PC Meeting on a Sensitive Topic (REDACTED.)"

The meeting included top officials in the National Security Council, Clapper, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, among others, to discuss Russia.

The declassified meeting record, obtained by Fox News Digital, revealed that principals "agreed to recommend sanctioning of certain members of the Russian military intelligence and foreign intelligence chains of command responsible for cyber operations as a response to cyber activity that attempted to influence or interfere with U.S. elections, if such activity meets the requirements" from an executive order that demanded the blocking of property belonging to people engaged in cyber activities.

After the meeting, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Clapper’s executive assistant emailed intelligence community leaders tasking them to create a new intelligence community assessment "per the president’s request" that detailed the "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election."

"ODNI will lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS," the record states.

Later, Obama officials "leaked false statements to media outlets" claiming that "Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election."

By Jan. 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months." 

Intelligence officials told Fox News Digital that the ICA was "politicized" because it "suppressed intelligence from before and after the election showing Russia lacked intent and capability to hack the 2016 election." 

Officials also said it deceived the American public "by claiming the IC made no assessment on the ‘impact’ of Russian activities," when the intelligence community "did, in fact, assess for impact." 

"The unpublished December PDB stated clearly that Russia ‘did not impact’ the election through cyber hacks on the election," an official told Fox News Digital.

FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES

The official also said the ICA had assessed that "Russia was responsible for leaking data from the DNC and DCCC," while "failing to mention that FBI and NSA previously expressed low confidence in this attribution." 

Officials said the intelligence was "politicized" and then "used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump’s victory, the years-long Mueller investigation, two Congressional impeachments, high level officials being investigated, arrested, and thrown in jail, heightened US-Russia tensions, and more."

A report prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2020 said the intelligence community did not have any direct information that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to help elect Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, but, at the "unusual" direction of then-President Barack Obama, published "potentially biased" or "implausible" intelligence suggesting otherwise.

The report, based on an investigation launched by former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dated Sept. 18, 2020. At the time of the publication of the report, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the chairman of the committee.

The report has never before been released to the public and instead has remained highly classified within the intelligence community.

Fox News Digital obtained the "fully-sourced limited-access investigation report that was drafted and stored in a limited-access vault at CIA Headquarters." The report includes some redactions.

BRENNAN DIRECTED PUBLICATION OF 'IMPLAUSIBLE' REPORTS CLAIMING PUTIN PREFERRED TRUMP IN 2016, HOUSE FOUND

The committee focused on the creation of the Intelligence Community Assessment of 2017, in which then-CIA Director John Brennan pushed for the inclusion of the now-discredited anti-Trump dossier despite knowing it was based largely on "internet rumor," as Fox News Digital previously reported.

According to the report, the ICA was a "high-profile product ordered by the President, directed by senior IC agency heads, and created by just five CIA analysts, using one principal drafter."

"Production of the ICA was subject to unusual directives from the President and senior political appointees, and particularly DCIA," the report states. "The draft was not properly coordinated within CIA or the IC, ensuring it would be published without significant challenges to its conclusions."

The committee found that the five CIA analysts and drafter "rushed" the ICA’s production "in order to publish two weeks before President-elect Trump was sworn-in."

"Hurried coordination and limited access to the draft reduced opportunities for the IC to discover misquoting of sources and other tradecraft concerns," the report states.

The report states that Brennan "ordered the post-election publication of 15 reports containing previously collected but unpublished intelligence, three of which were substandard — containing information that was unclear, of uncertain origin, potentially biased, or implausible — and those became foundational sources for the ICA judgements that Putin preferred Trump over Clinton."

"The ICA misrepresented these reports as reliable, without mentioning their significant underlying flaws," the committee found.

"One scant, unclear, and unverifiable fragment of a sentence from one of the substandard reports constitutes the only classified information cited to suggest Putin ‘aspired’ to help Trump win," the report states, adding that the ICA "ignored or selectively quoted reliable intelligence reports that challenged — and in some cases undermined — judgments that Putin sought to elect Trump."

The report also states that the ICA "failed to consider plausible alternative explanations of Putin’s intentions indicated by reliable intelligence and observed Russian actions."

The committee also found that two senior CIA officers warned Brennan that "we don’t have direct information that Putin wanted to get Trump elected."

Despite those warnings, the Obama administration moved to publish the ICA.

The ICA "did not cite any report where Putin directly indicated helping Trump win was the objective."

The ICA, according to the report, excluded "significant intelligence" and "ignored or selectively quoted" reliable intelligence in an effort to push the Russia narrative.

The report also includes intelligence from a longtime Putin confidant who explained to investigators that "Putin told him he did not care who won the election," and that Putin "had often outlined the weaknesses of both major candidates."

The report also states that the ICA omitted context showing that the claim that Putin preferred Trump was "implausible —if not ridiculous."

The committee also found that the ICA suppressed intelligence that showed that Russia was actually planning for a Hillary Clinton victory because "they knew where (she) stood" and believed Russia "could work with her."

The committee also noted that the ICA "did not address why Putin chose not to leak more discrediting material on Clinton, even as polls tightened in the final weeks of the election."

The committee also found that the ICA suppressed intelligence showing that Putin was "not only demonstrating a clear lack of concern for Trump’s election fate," but also indicated "that he preferred to see Secretary Clinton elected, knowing she would be a more vulnerable President."

One section of the declassified House Intelligence Committee report states that the material in Putin’s possession included Russian intelligence on Democratic National Committee information allegedly showing that senior Democratic leaders found Clinton’s health to be "extraordinarily alarming." 

"As of September 2016, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had DNC information that President Obama and Party leaders found the state of Secretary Clinton’s health to be ‘extraordinarily alarming,’ and felt it could have ‘serious negative impact’ on her election prospects," the report states. "Her health information was being kept in ‘strictest secrecy’ and even close advisors were not being fully informed." 

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service also allegedly had DNC communications that showed that "Clinton was suffering from ‘intensified psycho-emotional problems, including uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.'" 

"Clinton was placed on a daily regimen of ‘heavy tranquilizers’ and while afraid of losing, she remained ‘obsessed with a thirst for power,’" the report states.

The Russians also allegedly had information that Clinton "suffered from ‘Type 2 diabetes, Ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.’"

HILLARY CLINTON AIDE DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD'S CLAIMS AS 'RIDICULOUS'

The Russians also allegedly possessed a "campaign email discussing a plan approved by Secretary Clinton to link Putin and Russian hackers to candidate Trump in order to ‘distract the American public’ from the Clinton email server scandal." 

Gabbard, during the White House press briefing Wednesday, said there were "high-level DNC emails that detailed evidence of Hillary's, quote, psycho-emotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression and cheerfulness, and that then-Secretary Clinton was allegedly on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers." 

A tranquilizer is a drug used to reduce mental disturbance, such as anxiety and tension. Tranquilizers are typically prescribed to individuals suffering from anxiety, sleep disturbances and related conditions affecting their mental and physical health. 

A Clinton aide dismissed the claims as "ridiculous." 

Neither Clinton nor Obama responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. 

Obama admin ‘manufactured’ intelligence to create 2016 Russian election interference narrative, documents show

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EXCLUSIVE: The Obama administration "manufactured and politicized intelligence" to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Friday declassified documents revealing "overwhelming evidence" that demonstrates how, after President Donald Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, then-President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe.

FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES

Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that Russia was "probably not trying…to influence the election by using cyber means."

One instance was on Dec. 7, 2016, weeks after the election, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s talking points stated: "Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. presidential election outcome."

Fox News Digital obtained a declassified copy of the Presidential Daily Brief, which was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, with reporting from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, State Department and open sources, for Obama, dated Dec. 8, 2016.

"We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure," the Presidential Daily Brief stated. "Russian Government-affiliated actors most likely compromised an Illinois voter registration database and unsuccessfully attempted the same in other states."

But the brief stated that it was "highly unlikely" the effort "would have resulted in altering any state’s official vote result."

EX-OBAMA INTEL BOSS WANTED ANTI-TRUMP DOSSIER INCLUDED IN 'ATYPICAL' 2016 ASSESSMENT DESPITE PUSHBACK

"Criminal activity also failed to reach the scale and sophistication necessary to change election outcomes," it stated. 

The brief noted that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that any Russian activities "probably were intended to cause psychological effects, such as undermining the credibility of the election process and candidates." 

The brief stated that cyber criminals "tried to steal data and to interrupt election processes by targeting election infrastructure, but these actions did not achieve a notable disruptive effect."

Fox News Digital obtained declassified, but redacted, communications from the FBI on the Presidential Daily Brief, stating that it "should not go forward until the FBI" had shared its "concerns."

Those communications revealed that the FBI drafted a "dissent" to the original Presidential Daily Brief. 

The communications revealed that the brief was expected to be published Dec. 9, 2016, the following day, but later communications revealed that Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "based on some new guidance" decided to "push back publication" of the Presidential Daily Brief. 

"It will not run tomorrow and is not likely to run until next week," wrote the deputy director of the Presidential Daily Brief at Office of the Director of National Intelligence, whose name is redacted. 

The following day, Dec. 9, 2016, a meeting convened in the White House Situation Room, with the subject line starting: "Summary of Conclusions for PC Meeting on a Sensitive Topic (REDACTED.)"

WHITE HOUSE WANTS OBAMA INTEL OFFICIALS 'HELD ACCOUNTABLE' FOR ROLE PEDDLING 2016 RUSSIA HOAX

The meeting included top officials in the National Security Council, Clapper, then-CIA Director John Brennan, then-National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then-Secretary of State John Kerry, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, among others, to discuss Russia.

The declassified meeting record, obtained by Fox News Digital, revealed that principals "agreed to recommend sanctioning of certain members of the Russian military intelligence and foreign intelligence chains of command responsible for cyber operations as a response to cyber activity that attempted to influence or interfere with U.S. elections, if such activity meets the requirements" from an executive order that demanded the blocking of property belonging to people engaged in cyber activities.

After the meeting, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Clapper’s executive assistant emailed intelligence community leaders tasking them to create a new intelligence community assessment "per the president’s request," that detailed the "tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election."

"ODNI will lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS," the record states.

Later, Obama officials "leaked false statements to media outlets" claiming that "Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election."

By Jan. 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months." 

Intelligence officials told Fox News Digital that the ICA was "politicized" because it "suppressed intelligence from before and after the election showing Russia lacked intent and capability to hack the 2016 election." 

Officials also said it deceived the American public "by claiming the IC made no assessment on the ‘impact’ of Russian activities," when the intelligence community "did, in fact, assess for impact." 

"The unpublished December PDB stated clearly that Russia ‘did not impact’ the election through cyber hacks on the election," an official told Fox News Digital.

The official also said that the ICA assessed that  "Russia was responsible for leaking data from the DNC and DCCC," but while "failing to mention that FBI and NSA previously expressed low confidence in this attribution." 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence officials told Fox News Digital Friday that they have been investigating the matter for months.

Officials told Fox News Digital that the new assessment "was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured i.e. the Steele Dossier or deemed as not credible."

Officials said that the intelligence was "politicized" and then "used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump’s victory, the years-long Mueller investigation, two Congressional impeachments, high level officials being investigated, arrested, and thrown in jail, heightened US-Russia tensions, and more."

Gabbard told Fox News Digital that this "is not a partisan issue," but one that "concerns every American."

COMEY SAYS MCCABE LIED, CONFIRMS HE KICK-STARTED PROBE THAT LED TO HIS FIRING

"The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government," Gabbard told Fox News Digital. "Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people."

Gabbard said the "egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution" by Obama-era officials "threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic."

"No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again," Gabbard said. "The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it."

Gabbard added: "As such, I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve."

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama, Clapper, Comey, Brennan, Rice, Lynch and McCabe for comment and did not receive a response. 

The declassification of records and release by Gabbard and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence comes after Fox News Digital exclusively reported that former CIA Director Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for activities related to the original Trump-Russia probe.

The criminal referral for Brennan came from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, after he declassified records revealing that Brennan did, in fact, push for the discredited anti-Trump dossier to be included in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, despite the CIA’s consensus that it was filled with "internet rumor."

That dossier ultimately served as the basis for the Trump-Russia probe inside the FBI and for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Ratcliffe sent the criminal referral for Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel, who then opened a criminal investigation into Brennan and into Comey.

Reacting to the news of the investigation, Trump said he thinks "they’re very dishonest people."

"I think they're crooked as hell," Trump said. "And, maybe they have to pay a price for that."

Trump added: "I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people. So whatever happens, happens." 

Trump accuses ‘scam artist’ Schiff of lying about Maryland home to commit mortgage fraud

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tuesday morning, amplifying 2024 claims that Schiff committed mortgage fraud by lying about his primary residence for over a decade, which the senator denies.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, labeled Schiff a "scam artist" and claimed he obtained a mortgage for a residence in Maryland in 2009 but only designated it as a second home in 2020 as part of a ruse to snag better rates and terms from the company, which has been in federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis.

The president said Fannie Mae's Financial Crimes Division had uncovered the alleged fraud. Schiff obtained the Maryland property in 2009 while he was a congressman and became a senator in January. Schiff called the accusations "baseless."

WHITE HOUSE HIGHLIGHTS PELOSI HYPOCRISY AFTER SCHIFF DEMANDS TRUMP ADMIN FINANCIAL, ETHICS DOCS

"I have always suspected Shifty Adam Schiff was a scam artist. And now I learn that Fannie Mae’s Financial Crimes Division have concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud," Trump wrote.

"Adam Schiff said that his primary residence was in MARYLAND to get a cheaper mortgage and rip off America, when he must LIVE in CALIFORNIA because he was a Congressman from CALIFORNIA. I always knew Adam Schiff was a Crook. The FRAUD began with the refinance of his Maryland property on February 6, 2009, and continued through multiple transactions until the Maryland property was correctly designated as a second home on October 13, 2020."

"Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice."

Trump did not provide any evidence of the alleged fraud. 

When asked about the accusations later on Tuesday, Trump appeared to soften on the specific accusation. 

"I don't know about the individual charge, if that even happened, but Adam Schiff is a serious lowlife," Trump said.

"When you said that you want Adam Schiff brought to justice, what does that mean?" Fox News' Peter Doocy asked, to which Trump said: "I'd love to see him brought to justice."

‘WATERMELON HEAD’: TRUMP TROLLS DEMOCRATIC SEN. ADAM SCHIFF

Schiff was not barred from listing the Maryland home as his primary residence during his term in Congress, since the Constitution only requires that he be an "inhabitant" of California at the time of his election, not throughout his entire service.

However, Schiff cited two residences, one in California and one in Maryland, as his "principal residence" on multiple mortgage and election forms dating back to 2003, Just the News reported in October. 

In at least three cases — in 2009, 2011 and 2013 — Schiff refinanced his Maryland home and declared it his "principal residence," while also listing his Burbank, California condo as his primary residence in separate financing documents, the outlet reported. He then changed the notations on his Maryland mortgage to be a secondary residence.

The pattern was first detected by Christine Bish, a Sacramento-based real estate investigator who ran for Congress as a Republican last year. She filed an ethics complaint against Schiff in Congress.

Schiff said Trump's comments were the latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies and said it would not distract from "his Epstein files problem."

"Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason," Schiff wrote on X. "So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown. And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable. Not by a long shot."

A spokesperson for Schiff said that the accusations have been debunked.

"The lenders who provided the mortgages for both homes were well aware of then-Representative Schiff's Congressional service and of his intended year-round use of both homes, neither of which were vacation homes," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "He has always been completely transparent about this."

The spokesperson did not say whether the Maryland home was designated as a primary residence. Fannie Mae said it would not be commenting on the claims. 

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Trump and Schiff have clashed many times since Trump first became president. 

As ranking member and later chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff became the public face of the congressional probe into the now-debunked theory that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Schiff repeatedly suggested there was "ample evidence" of collusion, even when the Mueller report later stated it did not establish a criminal conspiracy. Trump and his Republican allies repeatedly accused Schiff of leaking classified information during the investigation.

Schiff also served as the lead House impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment trial, stemming from the president’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while Schiff was also a member of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, which investigated Trump’s role in the attack on the Capitol. Schiff voted to impeach Trump both times. 

Trump says Biden family is ‘being protected’ by the ‘corrupt’ and ‘one-sided’ justice system

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Former President Trump said President Biden and his family are "being protected" by the "corrupt" and "one-sided" justice system in the United States, while telling Fox News that he should not have been impeached—especially if officials were aware, at the time, of Hunter Biden’s "evil" laptop.

During a Fox News town hall hosted by Sean Hannity in Clive, Iowa Thursday night, Trump railed against the "witch hunts" that he’s faced throughout his political career, while illustrating a double standard between how he is handled versus Biden and his family.

TRUMP PLEDGES TO BATTLE DRUG CARTELS, COMBAT FENTANYL CRISIS IF RE-ELECTED IN 2024

"They’re being protected, and it’s a one-sided system—it is a very unfair system, but they’re being protected," Trump said.

The former president referenced then-Vice President Joe Biden’s efforts to have a Ukrainian prosecutor fired and halt an investigation into Burisma Holdings—a Ukrainian natural gas firm where Hunter Biden sat on the board.

During a call in July 2019, Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine—specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, and Joe Biden’s successful efforts in having the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, ousted.

Trump's request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats cited as a quid pro quo arrangement. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.

But Trump’s questions about Hunter Biden were not unfounded. Hunter Biden, at the time of Trump’s first impeachment, had already been under federal criminal investigation for his tax affairs, prompted by suspicious foreign transactions, for more than a year.

FLASHBACK: EX-UKRAINE PROSECUTOR SAID HE WAS TOLD TO BACK OFF PROBE OF BIDEN-LINKED FIRM, FILES SHOW

That investigation, which is ongoing and being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Delaware, was opened in 2018.

Fox News Digital first reported the existence of some type of federal investigation involving Hunter Biden in October 2020, ahead of the last presidential election. It became known then that the FBI had subpoenaed the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden in the course of an existing money laundering investigation.

"When you look at all of this criminality like the laptop has so much stuff on it," Trump said during the town hall Thursday. "It’s so bad. It's so evil, and yet, they don’t want to do anything."

Trump said the laptop "even affected the impeachment hoax number one." 

"If they read the laptop, and they had the laptop, it should not have proceeded, because I was right," Trump said. "It is a dual system of government."

Trump added: "You can’t have law and order in a country where you have such corruption."

The House voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on two counts— abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020. Trump was also impeached in January 2021 on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—making him the first and only president to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice in history.

TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT PROBES INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM STORMY DANIELS TO RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO

Meanwhile, Trump shifted, reflecting on the Russia investigation. 

"From the day I got in, I was under siege by people that had been in Washington for many years, put in there by different presidents," Trump said. "In most cases, people that were against me."

He added: "They spied on my campaign, they did all sorts of things. I was under investigation and under siege and so were my people." 

Trump said that if he "wasn’t tough," he "wouldn’t be here right now." 

"I guarantee that if I didn’t fight back, I wouldn’t be here," Trump said. "What they did was so bad, and they’ve been caught now." 

Trump was referring to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report, which Fox News Digital first reported last month. Durham, after years of investigating, found that the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law" when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation.

TRUMP SAYS THERE 'MUST BE A HEAVY PRICE TO PAY' FOR COMEY, DEMOCRATS AFTER RELEASE OF DURHAM REPORT

Durham was appointed by former Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the FBI's original Russia investigation, known as "Crossfire Hurricane." That investigation looked into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Durham also found that the FBI relied significantly on "investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents." 

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"So far, nothing’s happened to them of consequence," Trump said. 

Durham is expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on his investigation's findings later this month. 

Nadler claims of Trump-campaign Russia collusion contradicted by Durham report

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., once said it was "very clear" the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election — a claim later contradicted by the release of Special Counsel John Durham's report on the Russia investigation.

"It’s become very clear that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in trying to subvert the election," Nadler told CNN in November 2018. "The president is right to be nervous right now, because it appears that time is running out when he can hold himself above the law."

DURHAM REPORT CONTRADICTS 'GUARANTEE' FROM MAXINE WATERS THAT TRUMP COLLUDED WITH RUSSIA

The comments now conflict with the Durham report, which concluded in May that federal agencies had no "actual evidence of collusion" to justify its launch of the Trump-Russia investigation. This added to the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report in 2019 that determined there was no evidence of a criminal plot to influence the 2016 election. 

Nadler, in the 2018 interview, said evidence would soon surface to prove Trump's personal involvement in collusion with Russia.

"The walls are tightening about his knowledge of the collusion with the Russians," Nadler said. 

ADAM SCHIFF, WHO REPEATEDLY CLAIMED EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN COLLUSION, DENOUNCES DURHAM REPORT AS 'FLAWED'

This evidence never arose, but Nadler later said in a January 2020 interview with CBS that Trump attempted to rig the 2020 election just "as he worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election." The comments came amid the impeachment push over Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden.

"The reason he did that was in order to extort a foreign government to smear his political opponents for his personal benefits and to help try to rig the 2020 election as he worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election," Nadler said. "Same pattern."

DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI 'FAILED TO UPHOLD' MISSION OF 'STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW' IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

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The Durham report concluded the Trump-Russia investigation was based upon "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence." The launch of the investigation despite the lack of evidence, the report said, showed the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law." The report also concluded the agencies relied heavily upon leads for information "provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents."

Durham report contradicts ‘guarantee’ from Maxine Waters that Trump colluded with Russia

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Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., once said she guaranteed that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the White House in 2016 – a claim contradicted by this week's release of Special Counsel John Durham's report on the Trump investigation.

"Here you have a president who I can tell you, I guarantee you, is in collusion with the Russians to undermine our democracy," Waters said in September 2017.

ADAM SCHIFF, WHO REPEATEDLY CLAIMED EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN COLLUSION, DENOUNCES DURHAM REPORT AS 'FLAWED'

The Durham probe, released nearly six years after that comment, determined that the investigation into the Trump campaign's connection with Russia was premised on "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence." The investigation, the report concluded, had no "actual evidence of collusion" to justify its launch, and the actions from the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law."

Waters emerged as an early proponent of the Russia collusion theory. She introduced legislation to investigate Trump over collusion claims less than a month after his inauguration. She later called for his impeachment.

"I will fight every day until he is impeached," Waters said in April 2017. "Impeach 45."

DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI 'FAILED TO UPHOLD' MISSION OF 'STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW' IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

The Durham probe concluded the core problem with the launch of the Russia collusion investigation, which was titled "Crossfire Hurricane," was that it relied on information from sources openly opposed to Trump's presidency.

"In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents," the report stated. "The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence."

JEAN PIERRE ENDS BRIEFING AFTER BEING PRESSED ON DURHAM REPORT

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his investigation into Trump-Russia collusion in April 2019, concluding there was no evidence of criminal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.

Waters' office did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump targeted: A look at probes involving the former president; from Stormy Daniels to Russia to Mar-a-Lago

Posted on (Updated by Latest Political News on Fox News

Former President Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday after a years-long investigation led by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. 

The former president of the United States and the leading Republican candidate for the White House in 2024 was charged Thursday, after weeks of speculation on whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would seek to indict him related to hush money payments made before the 2016 presidential election. 

Trump's presidency was clouded by investigations — several probed whether he colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, some focused on his finances, and others led to impeachment, making him the first president in United States history to have been impeached twice.

Trump’s post-presidential life is reminiscent of his days in the Oval Office, marred by probes which the former president and his allies say are all just part of an effort by his political opponents to derail his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump was indicted on March 30, 2023 after the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's years-long investigation, possibly for hush money payments. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election. 

TRUMP INDICTED AFTER MANHATTAN DA PROBE FOR HUSH MONEY PAYMENTS

These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. 

MANHATTAN DA'S OFFICE 'ASKED FOR A MEETING' WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT

Hush money payments made to both McDougal and Daniels were revealed and reported by Fox News in 2018. Those payments had been investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York and by the Federal Election Commission. 

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Stormy Daniels payment in 2019, even as Cohen implicated him as part of his plea deal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

The charges stem from the $130,000 hush money payment then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. 

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to federal charges, including tax evasion, lying to Congress, and campaign finance violations. Cohen pleaded guilty to arranging payments to Daniels and model Karen McDougal to prevent them from going public with alleged affairs with Trump, which Trump has repeatedly denied. 

Cohen said Trump directed those payments. Federal prosecutors opted out of charging Trump related to the Stormy Daniels payment in 2018, even as Cohen implicated him as part of his plea deal.

Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 through his own company and was later reimbursed by Trump's company, which logged the payments as "legal expenses." McDougal received $150,000 through the publisher of the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer.

The Trump Organization "grossed up" Cohen’s reimbursement for Daniels' payment for "tax purposes," according to federal prosecutors who filed the 2018 criminal charges against Cohen for the payments. 

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing with regard to the payments made to Daniels, and has repeatedly said the payments were "not a campaign violation," but rather a "simple private transaction." 

The Federal Election Commission in 2021 tossed its investigation into the matter.

The line of inquiry and potential charges come as part of an investigation opened in 2019 by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. The probe was focused on possible bank, insurance and tax fraud. The case initially involved financial dealings of Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre estate Seven Springs in Westchester.

The investigation last year led to tax fraud charges against The Trump Organization, and its finance chief Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty.

TRUMP INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN DEPOSITION FOR NEW YORK AG JAMES' CIVIL INVESTIGATION

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith, a DOJ official, as special counsel to investigate Trump's alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago home. 

Smith has also taken over the Justice Department’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021—specifically whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

President Biden is also currently under special counsel investigation for his alleged improper retention of classified records from the Obama administration. Former Vice President Pence also had classified records at his home—a matter under review by the Justice Department. 

The appointment of a special counsel in the matter comes after the FBI, in August, in an unprecedented move, raided Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago in connection with an investigation into classified records the former president allegedly took with him from the White House.

The raid was related to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which said earlier this year that Trump took 15 boxes of presidential records to his personal residence in Florida. Those boxes allegedly contained "classified national security information," and official correspondence between Trump and foreign heads of state.

The NARA notified Congress in February that the agency recovered the 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago and "identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes." The matter was referred to the Justice Department by NARA.

FBI WOULD NOT LET TRUMP ATTORNEYS IN ROOMS AS AGENTS RAIDED MAR-A-LAGO, WARRANT FOCUSED ON NARA: SOURCE

Trump, earlier this year, said the National Archives did not "find" the documents, but that they were "given, upon request." Sources close to the former president said he had been cooperating and there was "no need" for the raid.

Classified material that was reportedly confiscated by the FBI during the raid Monday included a letter to Trump from former President Obama, a letter from Kim Jong Un, a birthday dinner menu and a cocktail napkin.

Last year, a federal appeals court paved the way for the House Ways and Means Committee to finally obtain Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service—something the panel had been trying to obtain since 2019, under a law that permits the disclosure of an individual's tax returns to the congressional committee.

Trump sought emergency intervention measures from the Supreme Court in an attempt to temporarily block any release of these tax records, but was denied. 

Democrats, in December 2022, released a report on Trump's tax returns. 

The committee claimed that the IRS failed to audit Trump effectively while he was in office. However, there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump administration and the IRS, nor are there any records of the former president pushing back against reviews of his tax information.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has been investigating Trump since she took office in January 2019. James brought a lawsuit against Trump in September alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets.

James’ claimed that Trump and his children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, as well as his associates and businesses, allegedly committed "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" regarding financial statements.

James alleged Trump "inflated his net worth by billions of dollars" and said his children helped him to do so.

Over the summer, Trump appeared in downtown New York City for his deposition before New York Attorney General Letitia James. James’ office has been conducting a civil investigation into the Trump Organization to find out whether Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of assets on financial statements in order to obtain loans and tax benefits. 

"I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing," Trump said in a statement in August. 

"The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose, and I will utilize it to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country."

TRUMP RAID LINKED TO DOJ, NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROBE INTO CLASSIFIED DOCS ALLEGEDLY TAKEN TO MAR-A-LAGO

"I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question," he continued. "When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice." 

"If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty," Trump said. "I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency."

Trump added: "Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution."

A spokesperson for the New York State Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the office conducted Trump’s deposition.

"Attorney General Letitia James took part in the deposition during which Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination," the spokesperson said. "Attorney General James will pursue the facts and the law wherever they may lead."

When Trump took office in January 2017, the FBI was in the middle of conducting a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Donald Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 election. That investigation was referred to inside the bureau as "Crossfire Hurricane," and began on July 31, 2016.

That investigation was opened, despite then-CIA Director John Brennan briefing then-President Obama on July 28, 2016 about a purported proposal from one of Hillary Clinton's campaign foreign policy advisers "to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service."

In September 2016, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: "Crossfire Hurricane."

Fox News first obtained and reported on the CIOL, which stated: "The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate."

DESPITE ACQUITTAL, DURHAM TRIAL OF SUSSMANN ADDED TO EVIDENCE CLINTON CAMPAIGN PLOTTED TO TIE TRUMP TO RUSSIA

 "An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server," the referral states.

It is unclear how the FBI handled that memo.

Special Counsel John Durham is currently investigating the origins of the FBI's Trump-Russia probe. 

After Trump’s victory and during the presidential transition period, Comey briefed Trump on the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier, containing salacious allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian government. It was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer.

The DOJ inspector general later revealed that the unverified dossier helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

It is now widely known that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded the dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie.

HILLARY CLINTON APPROVED DISSEMINATION OF TRUMP-RUSSIAN BANK ALLEGATIONS TO MEDIA, CAMPAIGN MANAGER TESTIFIES

During the early months of Trump’s administration, Jeff Sessions, who served as attorney general at the time, recused himself from oversight of the FBI’s Russia investigation, due to his involvement with the Trump campaign, per Justice Department regulations. Then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was then tasked with oversight of the investigation.

Trump, in May 2017, fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Comey, during his June 2017 testimony to Congress, said he deliberately leaked a memo from a key meeting with Trump to a friend after he was fired in order to prompt the appointment of a special counsel.

"I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter—I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel," Comey testified.

Days after Comey was fired, Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller to take over the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.

The Mueller investigation clouded the Trump administration for nearly two years.

DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW 

Simultaneously, investigations into Trump-Russia allegations were launched on Capitol Hill—in both chambers of Congress.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Intelligence Committee opened investigations into whether Trump and members of his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential race. 

Neither the House nor Senate investigation found evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. 

After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March 2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller, though, did not draw a conclusion on whether the president obstructed justice. At the time, then-Attorney General Bill Barr and Rosenstein concluded the evidence from the Mueller case was "not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."

Once Mueller’s findings were made public, congressional Democrats seized on the issue of obstruction of justice, and began ramping up investigations on matters that spanned from Trump’s personal finances to security clearances for Trump administration officials, all whilst the drumbeat of impeachment built within the House Democratic caucus.

In March 2019, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., announced a wide-ranging probe into almost every aspect of Trump’s administration, business ventures, and family dealings, subpoenaing more than 81 individuals and entities to investigate "alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power by President Trump." 

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT DRUMBEAT BUILDS ON LEFT, AS HOUSE SHIFTS PROBES INTO HIGH GEAR

But Nadler wasn’t alone— a number of other House panels also stepped up inquiries.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was chaired, at the time, by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., dissolved the panel’s subcommittee on terrorism and re-directed those resources to a subcommittee dedicated, instead, to investigations related to Trump—specifically his relationships and communications with foreign officials, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Congressional committees, at the time, were also seeking access to State Department employees and contractors with knowledge of Trump's communications with Putin, including the "linguists, translators, or interpreters" who participated in or listened to Trump-Putin meetings.

FLASHBACK: SCHIFF SAYS THERE IS 'DIRECT EVIDENCE' OF COLLUSION BETWEEN TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who pushed the Trump-Russia collusion narrative for years, in 2019, continued his investigation into the matter, claiming he had evidence of collusion, despite Mueller’s findings.

Declassified transcripts from House Intelligence Committee interviews, which Fox News first reported on in 2020, revealed, among other things, that top Obama officials acknowledged they had no "empirical evidence" of collusion or a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. 

Also in the spring of 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee sued the Trump administration, accusing officials of violating federal law by refusing to comply with the panel’s requests and subpoenas for documents related to Trump’s tax returns.

TRUMP SUES HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, NEW YORK STATE OFFICIALS TO PROTECT HIS TAX RETURNS

The House Oversight Committee, at the time, also subpoenaed Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA LLC for his financial information, including annual statements, periodic financial reports and independent auditor reports from Mazars, as well as all communications with Trump.

Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and Capital One over Trump’s financial statements.

In the middle of the congressional investigations into his finances, Trump’s business dealings were also being probed in two separate investigations in New York— one by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and the other by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s administration was even being investigated by the House Oversight Committee over security clearances given to officials, probing the process that gave clearances to White House staff.

FLASHBACK: DEM-LED HOUSE PANEL LAUNCHES NEW PROBE INTO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SECURITY CLEARANCES

But everything came to a head in July 2019—Trump had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During that call, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine—specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. Hunter Biden, at the time, was, and still is, under federal criminal investigation for his tax affairs, prompted by suspicious foreign transactions.

The president’s request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats and some witnesses have cited as a quid pro quo arrangement. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the next presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.

Trump’s conversation with Zelenskyy prompted a whistleblower complaint, which led to the House impeachment inquiry, and ultimately, impeachment proceedings in the Senate.

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT NUMBER ONE: SENATE ACQUITS TRUMP ON ABUSE OF POWER, OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS CHARGES

The House voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on two counts— abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020.

"At some point, you got to ask, you know, the motive," Jordan said of the investigations. "And the motive is this guy came to town and shook up the place—he changed the clique that exists there in D.C., he took on the clique and the bureaucracy and everything else, and the folks there said, no, we just can't have this, and that's why they go after him so hard."

Weeks after Trump’s first acquittal, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world, shutting down the U.S. economy and global markets, with millions of people around the world contracting the novel coronavirus.

Trump was accused, throughout, of not taking the virus seriously. Democratic senators, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, called for an investigation into the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Democrats also said they would create a 9/11-style commission to probe Trump’s response.

The Trump administration, though, launched Operation Warp Speed—a public-private partnership to create vaccines against the novel coronavirus, as the pandemic raged in 2020. Under his administration, the Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. 

FLASHBACK: WARREN, SENATE DEMOCRATS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS

Trump in December 2020 signed an executive order that would ensure all Americans had access to coronavirus vaccines before the U.S. government could begin aiding nations around the world. 

In another congressional probe, during the pandemic, Trump was hammered by Democrats over when he was briefed, and his response to Moscow, related to intelligence that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops.

A year later, during the Biden administration, officials admitted that intelligence was unverified.

Throughout 2020, Trump was also criticized for questioning the security of the upcoming presidential election, and for repeatedly saying it would be "rigged" due to the pandemic-era process of mail-in ballots.

Biden won the 2020 election, but Trump claimed it was stolen, and his legal team filed a slew of lawsuits in battleground states across the nation.

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT NUMBER TWO: TRUMP ACQUITTED IN SECOND IMPEACHMENT TRIAL ON CHARGE OF INCITING JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT

On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden. Trump was permanently banned from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube after the riot.

The House of Representatives then drafted articles of impeachment against him again, and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—making him the first and only president to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice in history.

Trump's legal team denounced the proceedings as an unconstitutional "sham impeachment" against a private citizen, driven by Democrats' "hatred" for Trump and desire to silence a political opponent. 

The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.

In Georgia, in early 2021, prosecutors in Fulton County opened a criminal investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, including his phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump suggested the Republicans "find" enough votes to change the results. 

And when Trump left office, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol began its probe into the Capitol riot.

JAN. 6 COMMITTEE AIMS TO SHOW 'TRUMP WAS AT THE CENTER' OF PLOT TO OVERTURN ELECTION WITH PRIMETIME HEARING

That committee spent more than a year investigating, and launched a series of hearings last summer, some during primetime, in an attempt to capture Americans’ attention before the November midterm elections—as they compete with record-high inflation, record-high gas prices, shortages in baby formula, a looming recession, and more for political attention.

When Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm elections, the Jan. 6 committee's work was completed, and the committee was shut down.

Special Counsel Jack Smith took over the Justice Department's Jan. 6 investigation. 

In Georgia, in early 2021, prosecutors in Fulton County opened a criminal investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, including his phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump suggested the Republicans "find" enough votes to change the results. 

A special grand jury last month released portions of a report detailing its findings in the investigation last month.

The report indicated a majority of the grand jury believes that one or more witnesses may have committed perjury in their testimony, and recommends that prosecutors pursue indictments against them, if the district attorney finds the evidence compelling.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that the report does "not even mention" Trump's name and has "nothing to do with the president because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong."

"The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to do—in fact, as President, it was President Trump’s constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity," Cheung said. "Between the two calls, there were many officials and attorneys on the line, including the Secretary of State of Georgia, and no one objected, even slightly protested, or hung up."

He added: "President Trump will always keep fighting for true and honest elections in America." 

 

Byron York: Vindman, not whistleblower, driving force behind Trump impeachment

Posted on by Caleb Parke
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key impeachment witness against President Trump, was the "original source" of the Trump-Russia collusion push, not the whistleblower, Fox News contributor Byron York said Wednesday.

Supreme Court blocks House Dems’ efforts to get Mueller grand-jury info released

Posted on by Louis Casiano
The Supreme Court temporarily denied a motion Wednesday from House Democrats to obtain grand-jury testimony and other documents from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as they conduct what they've referred to as an "ongoing presidential impeachment investigation" into President Trump.