Below is my column in Fox.com on the release of the last declassified material on the origins of the Russian collusion investigation. After the release, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wrote in the New York Times insisted that they never relied on the Steele dossier. The column only reaffirmed the level of dishonesty and duplicity that marked their tenures in office. (The Times still printed this claim despite being demonstrably untrue).
The documents quote Brennan in overruling career analysts and intervening to include the dossier in the intelligence assessment. Moreover, the column echoes the media spin that the investigation was about an attempted Russian interference while dismissing the collusion claim that consumed much of the first term. (Even after leaving office, Brennan continued to push the false collusion claim). Both countries routinely hacked each other’s emails — that is why we have the most recent incriminating evidence on the Clinton campaign’s funding and spreading the false collusion claims. We hacked their emails. We have also regularly tried to influence the elections of other nations. The key to the dossier and the Russian investigation was the allegation of collusion and the central role of the Clinton campaign in creating the narrative that Trump was a Russian asset.
Here is the column:
This week, Washington was rocked by new releases in the declassification of material related to the origins of the Russian investigation. The material shows further evidence of a secret plan by the Clinton campaign to use the FBI and media to spread a false claim that Donald Trump was a Russian asset. With this material, the public is finally seeing how officials and reporters set into motion what may be the greatest hoax ever perpetrated in American politics. There never was a Russian collusion conspiracy. This is the emerging story of the real Russian conspiracy to manufacture a false narrative that succeeded in devouring much of the first term of the Trump Administration.
What is emerging in these documents is a political illusion carefully constructed by government officials and a willing media. The brilliance of the trick was getting reporters to buy into the illusion; to own it like members of an audience called to the stage by an illusionist.
The effort closely followed the three steps of the classic magic trick: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.
The Pledge
The trick began with the pledge, the stage where the public is set up by showing ordinary events with the suggestion that it is about to transform into something extraordinary. The key is to make something seem real that is actually not.
The Clinton campaign delivered the pledge by secretly funding the Steele dossier, using Fusion GPS and a former British spy named Christopher Steele, to create a salacious account of Trump being an agent of Russia. New emails state that Hillary Clinton personally approved the operation.
It was Elias who was the general counsel to the Clinton presidential campaign when it funded the infamous Steele dossier and pushed the false Alfa Bank conspiracy. (His fellow Perkins Coie partner, Michael Sussmann, was indicted but acquitted in a criminal trial.)
During the campaign, a few reporters asked about the possible connection to the campaign, but Clinton campaign officials denied any involvement in the Steele Dossier. After the election, journalists discovered that the payments for the Steele dossier were hidden as “legal fees” among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie under Elias.
When New York Times reporter Ken Vogel tried to report the story, he said, Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
Later, John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, appeared before Congress for questioning on the Steele dossier. Podesta emphatically denied any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.
The FEC ultimately sanctioned the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee over the handling of the funding of the dossier through his prior firm.
The Turn
The next step is the turning point when the ordinary becomes something extraordinary. This required the involvement of the government. The Clinton team worked behind the scenes to feed the dossier to the FBI. It would be the criminal investigation that would transform the ordinary accounts, like Carter Page speaking in Moscow, into an elaborate Russian plot. Even though the FBI was warned early on that Page was a CIA asset, not a Russian asset, the Clinton team found eager officials in the Obama Administration to assist in the illusion.
The newly disclosed evidence shows how the turn was made. In July 2016, Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s “plan” to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.” The original Russia investigation — funded by Clinton’s campaign — was launched days after this briefing.
Months later, it would be Brennan who overruled his own CIA analysts in his ordering of a second last-minute assessment at the end of the Obama Administration in support of the Russian allegations. It would help make the turn with the all-consuming Russian investigation that would follow.
Career analysts were not buying the turn. They objected that the reliance on the Steele dossier “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” One CIA analyst told investigators that “[Brennan] refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier’s main flaws, [Brennan] responded, ‘Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?’”
That is the key to the turn; it needs only to be enough to fool the audience.
The Prestige
The final stage is called the Prestige, where the magician faces the toughest part of the trick. As explained in the 2006 movie “The Prestige,” the viewer is “looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled.” However, “making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back.”
The difference is that this trick was designed to derail Trump and it worked. In the end, however, the Special Counsel and Inspector General both rejected the Russian collusion claims. The public then reelected Trump. Now, the prestige may be revealed by the CIA.
Reports indicate that the CIA is about to declassify material showing that foreign sources were also in on the trick. The information reportedly indicates that foreign sources were aware of the move to create a Russian collusion scandal and expected that the FBI would play a role in the plan. That was before the bureau launched its controversial Crossfire Hurricane probe. One source said the foreign intelligence predicted the move “with alarming specificity.”
The most recently declassified material shows that the Russian actors in 2016 hacked emails from the Open Society Foundations, formerly known as the Soros Foundation. The emails reveal a broader network of activists and allies who were aware of the Clinton conspiracy.
Leonard Bernardo, who was the regional director for Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations, explained that “during the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications.”
Bernardo added, “Julie (Clinton Campaign Advisor) says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later, the FBI will put more oil into the fire.”
The media (including the Washington Post and New York Times, which won Pulitzer prizes for reporting on the debunked claims) are apoplectic in dismissing these disclosures. The last thing they will do is report on how they helped sell a political hoax. The problem is that they never said it was a trick. They said it was the truth. That is why they cannot honestly cover the story. To do so would not be coverage, it would be a confession.
It appears that everyone was in on the trick: the U.S. government, the media, even foreign governments. The only chumps were the American people. Now they are about to see how it was done.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Trace Brennan, Clapper and others all the way back to the British Pilgrams Society and Graham Eric Stirrup…this one will take you higher up instead of down the line.
It was an attempted coup incuding collusion with foreign intelligence assets, coordination with the clinton campaign, obama administration and orders to the fbi and cia feeding bogus information to senate and house democrat polticians and outright lies disseminated to,a more than willing, democrat propaganda machine, ie US leftwing media.
Lawfare, election interference, hobb’s act violations, fec rules violations, perjury, government employees “leaking”spun and untruthful statements to the media, obstruction of government agencies, making false statements to federal officials, generating false federal documentation, sedition, actively sabotaging, deliberately misimplementing, or conspiring to block lawful executive directives could potentially constitute criminal conduct and all of the above actions need to be investigated and prosecuted.
*18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy)** – Conspiring to defraud the United States or obstruct lawful government functions.
**18 U.S.C. § 1505** – Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees – covers interference with administrative proceedings.
**18 U.S.C. § 610** – Prohibits federal employees from using their official authority to interfere with elections or political processes.
**The Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 7323-7326)** – Restricts political activities of federal employees, though violations are typically administrative rather than criminal.
18 U.S.C. § 1001 (False Statements)** – Making materially false statements to federal investigators or in federal matters. This is a felony punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment.
**18 U.S.C. § 1503 (Obstruction of Justice)** – Corruptly influencing, obstructing, or impeding administration of justice. Covers interference with federal investigations.
**18 U.S.C. § 1512 (Witness Tampering/Obstruction)** – Tampering with witnesses, victims, or informants in federal investigations.
**Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 U.S.C. § 242)** – If the abuse of position violates someone’s constitutional rights.
**Key Aggravating Factors:**
– **Abuse of official position** – Using federal authority to commit crimes typically results in enhanced penalties
– **Obstruction of justice** – Courts take interference with investigations very seriously
– **Materiality** – The lies must be material to the investigation
– **Intent** – Must be knowing and willful
**Real-World Applications:**
These charges have been successfully prosecuted against federal officials, including FBI agents, prosecutors, and other government employees who have lied about or obstructed criminal investigations.
The combination of position abuse + obstruction + false statements creates exposure to multiple felony charges with potentially severe sentences.
Hey, Jonathan. Who is responsible for the election of a pedophile rapist? Twice!
You had a hand in that.
Hey Todd,
Why are you going back to Bill Clinton days?
Biden was elected to office more than twice. Get your facts straight! He was also a pediphile, he preferred young girls.
He has never been convicted of such and in fact, has been cleared but, Bushes were 4 times, Clinto was twice, Obamas were twice and Biden once…they all are as you shall learn.
The first part of any problem?, is to understand the root cause!!!
The root cause of all this turmoil and CHOAS has been percolating for 2 decades. The Investment Banking world , under George Bush ( Harvard Graduate)administration put two actions through the legislative process. 2 Democrats Dodd and Frank , proposed a bill in Congress that was to allow anyone that applied for a mortgage be allowed to acquire an interest only home loan or zero down payment loan. Either loan accepted the fact that no principal part of the mortgage would be required up front. Housing prices soared on the demand. People then started borrowing on the new equity , which put them further into debt. Long and short. These mortgages failed. The other steps lobbied by these banks was to regulate smaller banks by restricting them from making “high” risk loans. The smaller banks were then purchased, or they merged and Savings And Loans and Credit Unions could no longer exist and closed! This allowed the top Banks to become huge. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and the king , Bank of America quietly bought Merrill Lynch, which bought Blackrock , and they bought Countrywide Mortgage in bankruptcy. This at the tail end of the Bush era. Obama, another Harvard Graduate President takes over and uses the newly funded TARP program and starts writing checks to these newly formed conglomerate banks.
BOA got a check for $400 billion when it was reimbursed for all the failed mortgages it got when they bought Merrill, Blackrock, and Countrywide. It wasn’t a coincidence that Obama ran up the debt by $13 trillion over 8 years. THAT MONEY ALL WENT TO THESE BIG BANKS as a result of this TARP funding bill.
BOA, Blackrock Vanguard and Statestreet all form this unofficial conglomerate and each start buying 8-10% of every Fortune 500 Company . CBS, ABC, and CNN when Turner sold it and made Zuckerman the Chair person . Harvard Graduate!
They lobbied everyone and corrupt the Clintons , (Harvard Graduates)let them build a $2 billion foundation. Obama ( Harvard Graduate)gets $120 million foundation in Chicago, he gets a $65 million book deal before a word is written, they now have 3 houses, one in Martha’s Vineyard. He did his part .BOA and Blackrock start their “ NEW WORLD ORDER.”. Working with Klaus Swabb and the World bank, they come up with “ Green New Deal Scam . They invested $1.7 trillion with China for solar and wind! They canceled America energy independence, they start trouble with dividing our country with racism and police ( authority) they start ANTIFAH, support BLM, support LBGTQ organizations, then they
Fund District Attorneys in major cities (47), let criminals out on street , defund police! Everything they can to turn us against each other. White supremacy, racism, censorship, Deep State, corrupt the FBI, CIA, Homeland. , ENCOURAGE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ! Get the worst citizens from all over the world airline tickets, boats, and huge caravans flood the country so that these folks are counted in the census numbers…. This then changes the number of House Representatives to their favor. Continue to set up NGOs and launder money through fake organizations. Have Pelosi push $3.7 trillion in spending to bankrupt America! ALL this money appropriated from Congress . They rewarded Pelosi with $138 million, Schumer with $66 million, Biden kept his money $60-100 million from China and Ukraine. And aggressively they go after Trump!
ALL of this happened under our nose while we were choosing up sides against each other.
Wake up AMERICA!!! Don’t LET THE DEEP STATE / BANKING WORLD GET AWAY WITH THIS! Stop and acknowledge that we have all been played hard by our political system on both sides!
Remember we are a Republic and put THE PEOPLE FIRST !
You’re joking, right?
Where’s the proof ?
biden wasn’t elected twice.
When you have lost Bill and Hillary Clinton’s senior advisor, Mark Penn, Democrats might as well move to Europe
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Mark Penn
@Mark_Penn
Schumer Again
Schumer’s complete abandonment of anything he once believed just to hold on to a fairly worthless job amazes me. Holding up all nominees for endless procedural hurdles does nothing.
The Republicans have the votes for their nominees and holding them up with procedural nonsense simply defies democracy and wastes the time and money of the Senate and delays the basic right of an administration to fill its government.
Now the Republicans are just going to change the rules to delete the power of the Democrats, and so the Dems will have accomplished nothing except they will lose their power to stop the nominees that maybe should be stopped.
The Dems have a dramatically shrinking base and stupid moves like this to appease the base will only shrink it further.
https://x.com/Mark_Penn/status/1951848316695646604
It wasn’t a “trick”, it was a “criminal conspiracy”. Tricksters don’t go to prison. criminal conspirators do.
I don’t think the American people were chumps in the aftermath of 2020. We knew we as a nation were defrauded. The perpetrators were criminal but it was the Supreme Court that was derelict. Thanks for nothing, John Roberts. There’s no excuse for the high court to refuse to do its duty in such a case. But it points up what I believe is a fact and that’s that we the people cannot be duped..even when we don’t have all the evidence. “There is wisdom in many counselors”
Now do the stolen elections in 2020, 22 and 24. Hint: if it took more than 24 hrs to count it was stolen. Not that the democrat going in was behind and won every time one to two weeks later is another clue or anything.
https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1952002977889177834
People need to be in jail, and pensions revoked for this.
Great, now do the stolen election of 2020.
Communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs, AINOs) are attacking the duly elected government in America, Russia is threatening nuclear war, China is signaling an invasion of Taiwan, and President Trump is under attack from all sides.