DOJ probing alleged 2016 'Russiagate' conspiracy against Donald Trump

Business Standard

2 days ago

Gabbard and her top aides released declassified documents they claim are evidence of an Obama administration conspiracy to subvert Trump's 2016 victory and his presidency
Bloomberg
The US Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into claims that national security officials participated in a conspiracy in late 2016 and early 2017 to link President Donald Trump to Russia's election interference and undermine his legitimacy, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors to use a grand jury to investigate claims made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said the person, who asked not to be named speaking about a confidential matter.
Gabbard claimed last month that officials working under former President Barack Obama 'manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.' Gabbard made a criminal referral to the Justice Department to investigate that matter.
It wasn't immediately clear what specific actions are under investigation and whether prosecutors will use an existing grand jury or convene a new one. It also wasn't clear in which city and court the case will be presented.
The Justice Department declined to comment. Fox News reported earlier on the investigation.
Federal prosecutors usually are able to convince grand juries to issue subpoenas and indictments, however they sometimes fail to do so if there isn't sufficient evidence.
Alleged Conspiracy
Gabbard and her top aides released declassified documents they claim are evidence of an Obama administration conspiracy to subvert Trump's 2016 victory and his presidency.
Two of the main points Gabbard's office made is that Obama and his top aides misled the public when they issued an intelligence assessment in early 2017 saying there was high confidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in order to help get Trump elected.
Her office also claims that Obama-era officials improperly included an unverified document as an annex to the assessment that made salacious claims about Trump. Gabbard and her top aides claim the actions were done to damage Trump as he took over as president.
Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush issued a statement after Gabbard made her claims.
'Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,' he said. 'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.'
Mueller Report
The circumstances related to actions by Obama-era officials, Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russian election interference have been investigated extensively for years.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller conducted an investigation that concluded Russia took actions that helped Trump and damaged his election opponent at the time, Democrat Hillary Clinton. However, Mueller didn't find sufficient evidence to charge Trump or any of his associates of conspiring with Russia to interfere in the election.
The Justice Department's inspector general conducted an investigation that uncovered multiple serious problems with how Obama-era officials obtained secret surveillance warrants for one of Trump's associates. The findings resulted in substantial FBI management reforms but only one criminal referral for a low-level lawyer who falsified a sentence in a warrant application.
During Trump's first term, the Justice Department appointed its own special counsel, John Durham, to investigate whether government officials broke laws in how they conducted the Russia investigation.
Although Trump and his allies repeatedly claimed that Durham would uncover a grand conspiracy, he never did. In the end, Durham obtained a guilty plea from the low-level FBI lawyer who falsified part of the surveillance application. Durham used a grand jury to bring charges against two non-governmental individuals, but they were quickly acquitted at trials.
A bipartisan group of senators issued a series of reports in 2019 and 2020 finding that Russia engaged in an extensive election interference campaign in favor of getting Trump elected in 2016. The group of senators, which was led for a time by now Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, found numerous contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia that they said posed a 'grave' counterintelligence threat.