RUSSIAGATE UPDATE: A newly released 29-page secret Appendix to the Durham report reveals even more damning evidence that the Russiagate affair was a stitch-up from the get-go.
Edgar J. Hoover FBI headquarters in Washington. (David Gaines, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)
By Ray McGovern
Special to Consortium News
Small wonder that the Deep State tried to keep under lock and key the explosive appendix to Special Counsel John Durham’s anemic May 2023 report on the Russiagate “scandal.” Sen. Charles Grassley, head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, made it public on Thursday and it became the latest revelation in July to blow open the real scandal behind Russiagate.
It’s small wonder, too, that when Kash Patel won Senate approval to be F.B.I. director, former C.I.A. Director John Brennan, former F.B.I. Director James Comey, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “lawyered up.” Clapper told CNN colleague Caitlin Collins last week he’d been lawyered up with “perpetual attorneys, since I left the government in 2017.”
But the trio will need more than clever lawyers. Grassley has awoken to what his Oversight Committee is supposed to do – such as oversee the Department of Justice. Better late than never. In 2021, Grassley displayed his own anemia when he plaintively called the DOJ “the Department of JUST US”.
Grassley was lamenting that F.B.I. lawyer Kevin Clinesmith got a slap on the wrist after falsifying a FISA Court application to eavesdrop on Trump associate Carter Page, who was supposed to have been the lynchpin of Russia-Trump “collusion.” But Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s $32 million, two-year investigation found no such “collusion.”
Out of the Burn Bag; Onto the Front Burner
Kash Patel sworn into office as director of the FBI by Attorney General Pamela Bondi in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 21, 2025. (White House)
It had long been clear that Patel, given the breadth of his earlier experience investigating “Russiagate”, knew “where the bodies were buried” – and, not least, could identify the bodies of very senior miscreants still walking around free.
Reportedly, he had some luck in finding a secret room at F.B.I. headquarters that contained burn bags filled with thousands of Russiagate-related documents revealing evidence that incriminated the top gurus of the Deep State. (It’s a wonder why they weren’t burned).
Among these documents was a particularly damning 29-page secret Appendix to the not-so-thorough-yet-four-year-long investigation by Special Counsel Durham, appointed by Trump’s first-term Attorney General William Barr in May 2019 to look into the origins of the Russiagate mess.
(Burn bags commonly are simply paper bags containing classified documents to be burned, shredded, or otherwise destroyed beyond recognition. Deep State miscreants were rather careless. Remember, they were convinced Mrs. Clinton was going to win.)
Durham’s Appendix burst, so to speak, into the media Thursday, the day after the burn-bag story broke on Wednesday. But not before The New York Times obliged Clapper and Brennan the same day with a Guest Essay titled “Let’s Set the Record Straight on Russia and 2016” – an apparent attempt to pre-empt the damage from Durham’s Appendix.
It is a hard thing to do. Within a day of the discovery of the Appendix, Grassley on Thursday asked the F.B.I., C.I.A., and others to declassify it, which was done before the ink was dry on the Clapper-Brennan piece.
Donate to CN’s 2025
Summer Fund Drive
Among other things, the Appendix reveals that President Barack Obama intended to scuttle any F.B.I. investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s mishandling of classified information. And it is replete with evidence that the Clinton campaign, with the help of “special services” were hatching plots to falsely connect Trump to Russia.
The following three observations are drawn from Sen. Grassley’s Key Findings from the Durham Appendix. (We strongly recommend reading the whole Appendix. We include below salient excerpts from the full text.)
• During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information [about alleged Russian interference] through the F.B.I.-affiliated…technical structures… in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications.
• Julie [Julianne Smith] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-[DNC] convention bounce. [See below for the lurid detail.]
• It is a logical deduction Smith was, at a minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign’s efforts to tie Trump to Russia. And the communications Durham reviewed certainly lends some credence that such a plan existed. [NOTE: Yes, the same Julianne Smith whom President Joe Biden appointed U.S. Ambassador to NATO.]
The Full Text (Short Excerpts)
Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally in Tempe, Arizona, November 2016. (Gage Skidmore, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
The text of the Appendix dwells largely on information coming from memoranda prepared by Russian intelligence. These Russian memoranda analyzed the take from Russian hacking of communications sent by two senior members of the Open Society Foundations (formerly known as the Soros Foundation).
A few appetizing nuggets from the Appendix itself:
• Barack Obama sanctioned the use of all administrative levers to remove possibly negative effects from the F.B.I. investigation of cases related to the Clinton Foundation and the email correspondence in the State Department. [Revealed by WikiLeaks].
• Based on information from [DNC head] Wasserman-Schultz, the F.B.I. does not possess any kind of direct evidence against Clinton, because of their timely deletion from the email servers.
• The political director of the Hillary Clinton staff, Amanda Renteria, regularly receives information from Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the plans and intentions of the F.B.I.
Again, quoting from the Appendix:
“In late July 2016 the F.B.I. received a report that summarized certain hacked emails allegedly sent by Leonardo Bernardo of the Open Society Foundations.
The translated [Russian] draft memorandum stated in relevant part:
According to data from the election campaign headquarters of Hillary Clinton obtained by the U.S. Soros Foundation, on 26 July 2016 Clinton approved a plan of her policy adviser, Juliana (sic) Smith to smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by Russian secret services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate.
As envisioned by Smith, raising the theme of Putin’s support for Trump to the level of an Olympics scandal would divert the constituents’ attention from the investigation of Clinton’s compromised electronic correspondence. …”
A ‘Crimes Report’ Filed
The Durham Appendix notes that the C.I.A. sent the F.B.I. an investigative referral regarding “the purported Clinton campaign plan” to tie Trump to Russia. Investigative referrals are widely known as “Crimes Reports.” U.S. intelligence agencies are required by statute to file a Crimes Report with the Department of Justice, when an unauthorized disclosure of classified information (or another potential federal crime) is believed to have occurred.
Had someone leaked, or was someone about to leak the Russian information on the “purported Clinton anti-Russian campaign plan”? I don’t know. In any case, a Crimes Report was filed – perhaps because more than one intelligence agency was involved; the content was so explosive; and it seemed necessary to work out a common response, just in case; and to brief those with “a need to know”.
Two months later, responding to a Senate Judiciary Committee request, then Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe wrote the following:
• In late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained insight into Russian intelligence analysis alleging that U. S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump by tying him to Putin and the Russians’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee. …
• According to his handwritten notes, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Brennan subsequently briefed President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including the ‘alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.’
• On 07 September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to F.B.I. Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok regarding ‘U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private mail server.'”
Shocked?
Strzok testifying to U.S. House Judiciary Committee on July 12, 2018 on F.B.I. probe in to 2016 election. (House Judiciary Committee/YouTube)
It hardly needs saying that neither F.B.I. Director Comey nor the equally infamous F.B.I. official Strzok could have been shocked at the information Russia had acquired and the conclusions drawn by Russian intelligence. Comey and Strzok knew chapter and verse – and all the footnotes.
Recall that Strzok, a veteran F.B.I. counterintelligence agent leading the probe into alleged Russian interference, told his F.B.I. lawyer/lover later of his reluctance to join the Mueller investigation: “My concern is that there’s no big there there.” Nor was there any there there then (summer 2016). Few knew more about that than Comey and Strzok.
Nothing to worry about because most Americans had been conditioned to believe the Russians are “almost genetically driven” (as Clapper testified) to do all manner of bad things. So who would believe the Russians that they didn’t interfere? And if someone with access to the truth dared to leak to mainstream media,it would be highly unlikely that the media would give him/her air or ink. In such circumstances who would take such a big risk?
Not surprisingly, there has been no additional information about the investigative referral/Crimes Report.
Coincidence?
July 26, 2016: The timing may be coincidence, but on the same day Mrs. Clinton reportedly endorsed the big push to tie Trump to Russia, David Sanger and Eric Schmitt of The New York Times co-authored an article titled: “Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked D.N.C.”
“WASHINGTON: American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have ‘high confidence’ that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence.”
Sanger and Schmitt have won Pulitzers for regurgitating what the C.I.A. and F.B.I. whisper in their ears. I have a bitter, war-of-aggression memory of Sanger one day stating as flat fact seven times that “Weapons of Mass Destruction” were in Iraq. That article, co-authored with Thom Shanker, appeared on July 29, 2002 as Dick Cheney and George Bush Jr. began browbeating Congress to authorize the unprovoked attack on Iraq.
Don’t Fret; We’re Still Here
Some of us got Russiagate right, and we are pledged to stay at it. Actually, one of us got it right on day one. That would be Consortium News favorite, Patrick Lawrence (whom The Nation fired for exposing the lie about “Russian hacking” of those embarrassing DNC emails).
Patrick let it all out in a column at Salon.com after watching some of the chicanery at the 2016 Democratic Convention. Strangely, the day he let loose was the same day that now-Ambassador Julianne Smith got the bright idea to blame the Russians – July 25, 2016 – and sold it to Mrs. Clinton the following day.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. His 27 years as a C.I.A. analyst included leading the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch and conducting the morning briefings of the President’s Daily Brief. In retirement he co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
Donate to CN’s 2025
Summer Fund Drive
For some people, the Election of Hillary Clinton was like the Second Coming of Jesus: much anticipated, hugely disappointing when it didn’t happen, Something had to ease the cognitive dissonance. The utterly fantastic Russiagate conspiracy fiction has been the result.A
Clinton’s plans for a so-called no-fly zone in Syria demonstrated an intent to confront Russia. Those who supported her so enthusiastically presumably already shared her hostility.
A certain Mr. Cheney let the cat out of the bag when he referenced The Shadow Government. I wondered then who voted for the Shadow Government. Almost immediately Mr. Cheney corrected himself to announce The Deep State. It sounds less treasonous.
Consortiumnews.com and the authors of many articles (and videos) on the site has done a commendable job on Russiagate, one of the few sites to cover the details and facts fairly objectively.
Unfortunately, State Media (which works for the CIA as well as protecting Obama and Hillary and other Elites) refuses to cover the denouement of Russiagate and their recently uncovered scandals, claiming that Trump is weaponizing his DOJ and Intelligence heads (as if Obama didn’t) and “re-writing history”. With Biden’s Patriot Act, enacted under W Bush/ Cheney after 9/11, the unjustified Iraq and Afghan Wars, Obama’s military “adventures” in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, etc and his coups against democratically elected governments in Egypt, Honduras and Ukraine, etc, and his legalization of domestic propaganda (critical for the success of Russiagate and the January 6th “Insurrection”), largely continued under Trump and escalated under Biden (along with his replacement of Assad with al Jolani, head of ISIS/ al Qaeda/ al Nusra groups secretly supported by Brennan, the CIA and Israel) the US just slips ever deeper into totalitarianism with loss of the Bill of Rights, and ever closer to WWIII and collapse of the Empire. At least under Russian and Chinese dictators the ones responsible were occasionally held to account and purged. American leaders and their toadies are Above the Law. It is all a win-at-any-cost game to our elected politicians and unelected bureaucrats.
I and several other routine commenters here at CN got it right all along (a deep dive into archival comments here at CN proves it 100%). We all knew it was such total b.s., ultimately intended to distract from how awful a candidate Killary was and what sellouts the DNC was.
Meanwhile, still no arrest in the Seth Rich homicide. So odd with the ubiquitousness of street cameras these days.
“WASHINGTON: American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have ‘high confidence’ that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence.”
“…the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee…”
This RussiaGate investigation is going to flop unless some people begin to talk. Recent articles talk of ‘plausible deniability’ for many involved. Obama may have ‘presidential immunity’.
What stops this cold and hard is proving Russia DID NOT hack the DNC. The emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee WERE NOT remotely hacked, they were locally downloaded (direct connection to the DNC network).
This was done by a DNC insider…his initials are Seth Rich.
There are, by my account, close to a dozen people with direct knowledge of this fact.
Obviously Julian and two or three whom he has told directly that Russia did not hack the DNC. That includes Dana, Ellen and the WikiLeaks lawyers. Craig and Kim know because they said they were involved in the physical transfer of files and docs to WikiLeaks.
Rod and Ty know the score, Donna and Muriel net Seth Rich at the hospital.
Mark my works folks….if people don’t talk, RussiaGate lie will die.
Excellent comment!
I want all these gigantic liars including their sick establishment media mouthpieces behind bars.
In my estimation this article misses the mark. The 2016 Presidential election was indeed manipulated by a force outside the United States… but it was not Russia. This scandal has the fingerprints of a third party all over it. This was a high tech manipulation of the internet by an “anonymous source” intended to promote division between the United States and Russia no matter who won the presidential race…with the ultimate goal being that the next President would be indebted to “anonymous” perpetrator…. and the attention of the populations of Eastern and Western Worlds would be diverted by conflicts superficial to their survival.
Who could that possibly be? Who thinks that way?…with such long term and focused ambitions? What country (besides the U.S.) has been busy influencing the politics of all the other nations for the last 77 years?
I’ll give you hint. The Epstein investigation is being delayed and covered up because it would expose that sexual blackmail is just another tool in their bag of dirty tricks….that also includes emotional guilt, humiliation, ridicule, condemnation, intimidation, cash payoffs, physical threats, financial ruin, gaslighting, murder, genocide and assassination of anyone who opposes them.
The Clinton’s and the Democrats. You cannot make this stuff up. The summer of 2016 especially around July 10th must have been a tough place to be in the middle of.
After reading this story of events as told by Mr. McGovern I can only imagine the electricity in the air around dynamic forces at work there at the time.
Thank you Mr. McGovern for the Good Trouble!
Shouldn’t be much of a surprise the people behind the 2014 coup in the Ukraine would use Trump accusations against Putin like calling him Hitler. They were so overconfident to think a sex sandal in October would seal the deal especially since a bill Clinton sex scandal in 1992 after he was nominated didn’t work either.
The religious deal with McConnell over the Supreme Court didn’t even include Trump except he stood out after two years of Republican trivial pursuit debates gave him leverage for the agenda. Some excuse had to be used to explain or hide the religious set up and the failure of the sex scandal.
Of course the NYT put out a CYA story as soon as it learned the Annex was about to be released. The Times was one of the main propagators of the Russiagate hoax. Imagine the embarrassment if people came to believe that their trusted news source was lying non-stop. Of course that wasn’t the first time. Remember Iraq and WMDs? The Times was the preeminent spreader of that unholy fabrication.
Ray McGovern has an outsized reputation because in a sea full of liars, he tells the truth. CN was the first media outlet, to my knowledge, that broke the Russiagate story, and McGovern played a central role. A big thank you to Ray and consortiumnews.com for continually proving that truth is an indispensable good that is always worth whatever it costs.
thanks Ray for your “telling truth” to those in or out of power. Because of widespread TDS in legacy media and their loyalty to the Democratic Party viewpoint, who knows if the public will hear anything about this sad event of plotting to to deny the validity of Trump’s election.
with admiration for your writings and works on behalf of peace
Carolyn Grassi
Good to keep at revealing the Democratic Party lie,
convincing evidence that they’re not worthy of being an alternative Party,
and you and Binney did great footwork in the beginning.
And yet Trump, with a rightful reason for taking offense, lets the
crime go unanswered by now railing against Putin, sanctions and
threats, while increasing weapons to neo-Nazi Ukraine.
Profile in cowardice I’d call it.
These corrupt groups in the spheres of power have built a system of impunity around themselves. And there is nothing as damaging and contrary to freedom and democracy as impunity. Fortunately, deeper and deeper cracks are emerging in the criminal imperial structure. We all have the obligation to widen those cracks until the desired day when this rotten structure completely collapses.
many knew. without the awareness of and information from this Appendix Durham’s report was utterly disappointing. what would’ve been the reason said Appendix wasn’t included in the presentation of his findings? doesn’t really matter, the trust has gone. thanks mr McGovern, your reporting rocks!
It was so obvious to anyone with just a little bit of critical thinking skills that Russiagate was a hoax. The loyal blue voters were so relieved that an excuse for Hillary’s loss was handed to them on a silver platter, they lapped it all up enthusiastically. They all tuned into Rachel Maddow every night to get the latest installment of “the walls are closing in.” It was sad, but entertaining at the same time. Those same people still have their Ukraine flags in front of their houses. The pink hat clique is lost to us I’m afraid.
Yep. Quite frankly, at this point the only thing I despise as much as most current Democrats is most current republicans.
Obviously the Russians are behind this supposed Appendix too. Who in their right minds would believe that a Clinton, a Democrat, or the hallowed New York Times, could stoop so low? NATO must take Moscow and St Petersburg in order to stop this fake news at source.
Since: “The text of the Appendix dwells largely on information coming from memoranda prepared by Russian intelligence” …where did Russian intelligence product come from???
The first question someone who doubts the appendix might ask is that, plus: “How can we trust Russian intelligence not to be feeding us false information?”
The Russian intelligence memoranda were put together using the juicy information obtained from hacking emails between the Soros gurus and various think tanks, etc. It does not appear to be a case of the Russians “feeding us false information.” I don’t know how US intelligence acquired the Russian memos, but even Timid John Durham deemed them worthy to include in his Appendix. More important, of course, most, if not all, the things alleged in the Russian memos turned out to be true.
How did the two members of the Open Society Foundations (Soros) obtain the Russian memorandum and how did they know that the Russians had hacked into the DNC servers?
My question as well, ten minutes behind Sean Ahern.