The newly declassified Durham Annex, a 29-page document released by Senator Chuck Grassley, has sparked renewed debate about the FBI’s role in the 2016 presidential election. The report, part of John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel investigation, claims the FBI had intelligence on a plot by the Hillary Clinton campaign and its allies to fabricate collusion with Russia, yet failed to act on the information. Grassley, a prominent conservative and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has accused the agency of being ‘weaponized’ in an Obama-era conspiracy to undermine Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency. The senator, who has long been a vocal critic of the Clinton campaign, suggested the FBI either aided the conspiracy or was compromised by Russian disinformation.
The document reveals that the FBI obtained intelligence on confidential conversations between Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and individuals at George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in early 2016. These conversations allegedly detailed a plan to discredit Trump by preparing ‘scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the Russian Mafia.’ Despite having this information, the FBI did not pursue the matter, raising questions about the agency’s integrity and investigative priorities. Grassley emphasized that the annex ‘exposes the great depth that the deep state will go to cover up weaponization that was going on in the FBI and the executive branch of government, generally, under the Obama administration.’ He called for maximum transparency into the ‘schemes’ that were hatched to either stop Trump from being elected or ‘ruin his presidency.’
The report also details how the FBI allegedly obtained further evidence in mid-2016, including ‘likely authentic’ emails sent by Leonard Benardo, senior vice president of Soros’ Open Society Foundations. These emails reportedly outlined a plan to disseminate information through FBI-affiliated ‘attic-based’ technical structures, predicting a future FBI probe into the Russiagate conspiracy. The emails appear to suggest that the agency would ‘put more oil into fire’ later on, indicating a potential complicity in the cover-up. Grassley’s comments have reignited discussions about the politicization of federal agencies and the role of private entities like the Open Society Foundations in influencing democratic processes. The senator’s assertions have drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, with some calling for further investigation into the FBI’s actions and others dismissing the claims as partisan conspiracy theories.