A recent report from the CIA clarifies that its former leader aimed to “frame” President Donald Trump with biased conclusions regarding the Russia collusion narrative, as noted by a legal analyst on Wednesday.
Attorney Gregg Jarrett concurred with current CIA Director John Ratcliffe that a “political motive” influenced former Director John Brennan’s involvement in a 2016 report investigating unfounded links between Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives attempting to sway the election. Last week, Ratcliffe unveiled a significant report asserting that Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, and other “political appointees” made considerable efforts to incorporate the discredited Steele dossier into their initial report concerning Russiagate.
Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, was contracted by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm associated with Hillary Clinton’s campaign, to probe into allegations of connections between Trump and Russia. Trump and his allies have claimed that much of the unverified intelligence originated from Bruce Ohr, a former U.S. Justice Department official who is married to Nellie Ohr, an employee of Fusion GPS during the election period.
“The dossier was, of course, worthless. The FBI had largely discredited it even before Trump took office and dismissed its author, Christopher Steele, for providing false information as a confidential human source. However, the bureau concealed these inconvenient truths under then-Director James Comey and skillfully utilized the document as a weapon to attack the newly elected president,” Jarrett writes for Fox News.
Brennan, Comey, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “conspired to tarnish Trump with what is undoubtedly the most unscrupulous tactic in political history,” he further states.
Insights from Ratcliffe’s report reveal new claims that Brennan disregarded career CIA agents who expressed skepticism about the connection between Trump and Russia. The report also alleges that Brennan isolated drafts of the report within the CIA, hindering the National Security Council and other intelligence agencies from accessing them.
The deputy director for analysis at the CIA cautioned Brennan in writing that the inclusion of the discredited dossier in any form endangered ‘the credibility of the entire paper.’ Brennan disregarded this warning. The narrative crafted by the former British spy aligned with the director’s pre-existing narrative that Trump had colluded with Russia,” Jarrett continues.
“This was a decision made by Obama, Comey, Clapper, and Brennan, stating ‘We’re going to undermine Trump,’” Ratcliffe summarizes in his report.