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Fox News
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
JONATHAN TURLEY: Democrats pulled the greatest political con job ever on Americans. It's finally unraveling
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 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. 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 next step is the turn 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 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 show an even wider circle 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 CIA Director John Ratcliff's big reveals have this town on the edge of its seat. 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.
New York Post
28-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Nellie Ohr, Justice Department official's wife, perjured herself in Trump-Russia probe testimony, bombshell FBI records show
WASHINGTON — The wife of a former Justice Department official gave 'demonstrably false' testimony to Congress about her involvement in drafting and disseminating since-debunked dossiers about Donald Trump's purported collusion with Russia in 2016, according to a bombshell trove of internal FBI records released Wednesday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Nellie Ohr worked for research firm Fusion GPS when it was hired in the lead-up to the 2016 election to dig up dirt on the Trump campaign's alleged links to Russian organized crime — but later told a House panel she had no knowledge of the DOJ's parallel investigation into the matter. Evidence assembled by the FBI indicates that Ohr helped compile two dossiers — tincluding the notorious file pushed by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele — that helped launch the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. 4 Nellie Ohr provided 'demonstrably false' testimony to Congress about her involvement in drafting and disseminating dossiers about Donald Trump's purported collusion with Russia in 2016, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Getty Images The Fusion GPS research repeated errors or included information similar to those discovered later in the Steele dossier. Ohr also sent emails — some of which she later deleted — directly to DOJ prosecutors, not all of whom she admitted to interacting with in subsequent congressional testimony. Ohr's husband Bruce, then a deputy associate attorney general, also received emails as well as a thumb drive from Nellie containing Fusion GPS research that was passed on to the FBI. 4 Her husband, Bruce Ohr, then a deputy associate attorney general, also received emails as well as a thumb drive from her containing the Fusion GPS research that was passed on to the FBI. AP The couple also personally met Steele at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on July 30, 2016, and discussed allegations — later relayed to the bureau — that Trump campaign aide Carter Page had met with Russian officials and that Kremlin intelligence had the Republican candidate 'over a barrel.' While the Ohrs invoked spousal privilege before Congress on the question of whether they discussed the Trump-Russia probe, the declassified FBI files put out by Grassley reveal the bureau determined there was 'little distinction' between the couple's professional and personal lives. 'There is probable cause to believe that Bruce and Nellie did communicate with each other about their respective activity in furtherance of the Russia-collusion investigations and/or narrative,' the 43-page FBI document written in September of 2019 states. 4 Evidence assembled by the FBI point to her work helping create two dossiers — the notorious one pushed by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and an 'Alfa' one — that helped launch the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. AFP via Getty Images The records were compiled in response to a criminal referral made that year by then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) that claimed Nellie Ohr knowingly gave false testimony about her involvement with the collusion investigation to the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees in October 2018. The Justice Department never prosecuted Ohr. In November 2019, the department did secure the conviction of Trump ally Roger Stone for lying to congressional investigators amid their probe. 'Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax,' Grassley said in a statement. 'Yet time and again, the American justice system has been weaponized against President Trump and his associates with reckless abandon.' 4 'The DOJ's inaction on Nellie Ohr's criminal referral — despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI's own analysis — undermines public trust in the rule of law,' he added. AP 'The DOJ's inaction on Nellie Ohr's criminal referral — despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI's own analysis — undermines public trust in the rule of law,' he added. Grassley also thanked FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for declassifying the bureau's internal investigative findings. Bruce Ohr was demoted twice and resigned from his DOJ role before he could be fired in October 2020, following a disciplinary referral about his conduct from Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The Post reached out to Nellie and Bruce Ohr for comment.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE FBI declassifies secret document revealing dramatic development in hunt for origins of Trump Russia probe
A newly declassified document from the FBI reveals that Fusion GPS Contractor Nellie Ohr was accused of falsely testifying to Congress about her role in the Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged links between Donald Trump 's campaign and Russia. The 2019 FBI document, exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail, reveals the Washington Field Office's Federal Public Corruption squad was tasked with the review of a Congressional Criminal Referral which accused Ohr of obstructing an investigation and providing Congress with demonstrably false information. The document outlines evidence against Ohr, indicating that it is up to the Department of Justice as to whether it might lead to a viable charge. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley responded to the document's release in a strongly worded statement. 'By lying to Congress, Nellie Ohr showed contempt for congressional oversight and the American people,' he said in an exclusive statement to the Daily Mail. A Congressional criminal referral accused Ohr for falsely testifying that she did not have any knowledge of an ongoing investigation of President Trump's connections to Russia and denied she shared any of her research on Russia with individuals outside of her firm Fusion GPS. Fusion GPS was the company hired by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign to connect Trump to Russian organized crime and government interests, and fed the infamous 'Steele Dossier' that was ultimately shared by the Clinton campaign with Obama administration officials and a select list of Washington, DC journalists. The document provided details of her testimony that could serve as evidence to charge Ohr with a crime, that could include lying to Congress and/or obstructing the congressional investigation. Grassley criticized the FBI and Department of Justice for failing to hold Ohr accountable. '[T]he FBI and DOJ's failure to hold Ohr accountable for appearing to commit multiple felonies and its obstructive conduct against agents that sought additional information reveals the agencies' deeply disturbing political bias,' Grassley added. 'Ohr never suffered consequences for advancing the phony Trump-Russia narrative and attempting to cover up her involvement in the hoax.' Grassley's longstanding efforts to provide transparency in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of Trump is bearing additional fruit, as he is now working with Trump's appointees at the FBI and the Justice Department to expose allegedly questionable behavior from the Obama and Biden administrations. 'The DOJ's inaction on Nellie Ohr's criminal referral – despite the obviously incriminating evidence provided in the FBI's own analysis – undermines public trust in the rule of law,' he wrote. 'I applaud Director Patel, Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche for cooperating with my request to declassify this information, which is in the public's interest, and chart a new course for transparency and accountability at the FBI and DOJ.' According to the FBI analysis, Ohr testified she 'would not have any knowledge of what [was] going on in an ongoing investigation' at DOJ and would not 'have any knowledge of the Department of Justice's investigations on Russia.' She also denied she shared her research with her husband, DOJ attorney Bruce Ohr, and Christopher Steele. The investigation revealed that Ohr provided a thumb drive of all her Fusion GPS research to her husband Bruce Ohr, who worked as the Associate Deputy Attorney General at the time of the case and that she was aware of the ongoing effort by the Justice Department to investigate. As a couple, according to the FBI document, Bruce and Nellie Ohr routinely traveled together and associated with similar sources, as she conducted her work with FusionGPS while her husband continued his work at the Justice Department. As a former CIA analyst, Nellie Ohr was heavily engaged in investigating Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort's engagements and travel with Russia and communications with Russian officials. The investigation revealed that Nellie Ohr also sent her husband Bruce multiple emails with attached documents of her research, who then forwarded the information to the Justice Department. The FBI document provides that in In one July 6, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr emailed her husband an article about Trump's connections to Russia and bolded the following sentence for emphasis. 'If Putin wanted to concoct the ideal candidate to service his purposes, his laboratory creation would look like Donald Trump,' it read. Nellie Ohr also testified she purchased a Ham radio and took classes to obtain a license to operate it for 'emergency communications' that were 'well before' taking a job at Fusion GPS, but subsequent research revealed it took place during her employment, according to the document. Her husband Bruce Ohr was heavily involved with the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation that focused on Trump's connections to Russia. The document reveals that Ohr also communicated with three DOJ Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Section (OCDETF) prosecutors on the case. Another email revealed that DOJ prosecutors reached out to Nellie Ohr via her husband Bruce to see if his wife would be interested in participating in an interview on the subject and to affirm there would be no conflict of interest between the two parties. Bruce Ohr forwarded the request to his wife that read, 'Hi honey! I trust you are okay with this? Love, B.' 'Sure!' she replied in an email and then added another email that read, 'Cool.' A handful of emails show that Nellie Ohr worked in close contact with the Department of Justice to provide them information about Trump and Russia, according to the FBI document. In an April 11, 2016 email, Nellie Ohr revealed she had communicated with DOJ prosecutors. 'I enjoyed talking with them and am thinking about potential future conversations,' she wrote.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge strikes down ‘Shakespearean' Trump order targeting law firm
May 3 (UPI) -- A federal district court judge on Friday struck down an executive order from President Donald Trump that had targeted a law firm that once worked with political rival Hillary Clinton. In March, Trump had signed an executive order calling the actions of the law firm Perkins Coie "dishonest and dangerous" for hiring the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to create a "dossier" that the president alleged was designed to steal the 2016 election. The order had imposed punitive measures such as revoking security clearances, barring the firm from government contracts, and restricting its attorneys' access to federal buildings. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell began her 102-page critique of Trump's order by calling the president's playbook "Shakespearean" and noting that no American president had ever issued an order like the one Trump had. "The importance of independent lawyers to ensuring the American judicial system's fair and impartial administration of justice has been recognized in this country since its founding era," she said in her ruling. The judge, an Obama appointee, referenced a line from the famed playwright's Henry VI, in which a follower of the power-hungry rebel Jack Cade called for the death of lawyers who "stood as guardians to the rule of law" even under the reign of a king viewed as ineffectual amid widespread economic hardship. Howell called it a "cringe-worthy twist" that Trump's order appeared to target just the lawyers that he does not like, calling his actions "unconstitutional" for particularly violating the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. "Using the powers of the federal government to target lawyers for their representation of clients and avowed progressive employment policies in an overt attempt to suppress and punish certain viewpoints, however, is contrary to the Constitution," Howell wrote. Howell said that Trump's attacks on Perkins Coie could cause the firm "irreparable monetary harm" and that it has already suffered "significant losses" after clients had to pull away because of their own work with the government. "Without an injunction, these losses are most certain to continue," Howell wrote. But "because sovereign immunity bars recovery of money damages, these losses could not be adequately compensated by legal remedies." The Trump administration is likely to appeal Howell's decision. "Today, the Court permanently blocked the unlawful Executive Order targeting our firm. This ruling affirms core constitutional freedoms all Americans hold dear, including free speech, due process, and the right to select counsel without the fear of retribution," the firm said in a statement. "We are pleased with this decision and are immensely grateful to those who spoke up in support of our positions. As we move forward, we remain guided by the same commitments that first compelled us to bring this challenge: to protect our firm, safeguard the interests of our clients, and uphold the rule of law."
Express Tribune
03-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Federal judge strikes down Trump order targeting law firm Perkins Coie
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to deliver remarks on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. PHOTO:REUTER Listen to article A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked an executive order by former President Donald Trump that targeted prominent law firm Perkins Coie, declaring it unconstitutional and a direct attack on core democratic principles. US District Judge Beryl Howell issued a sweeping 102-page ruling finding the executive order violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, including protections for free speech, due process, and the right to counsel. The order had suspended security clearances for Perkins Coie employees, barred its attorneys from federal buildings, and terminated the firm's government contracts. 'This action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare,' Howell wrote, referencing the quote 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.' She called the executive order 'unprecedented retaliation' against a law firm for representing political opponents. The Trump administration claimed Perkins Coie posed a national security risk due to its connection with Fusion GPS, the research firm behind the 2016 Russia dossier. But Judge Howell rejected that justification, citing Trump's public hostility toward the firm and the sweeping impact of the order — which affected everyone from attorneys to mailroom staff. Perkins Coie was the first law firm formally targeted under Trump's broader campaign against legal entities perceived as hostile. At least three other firms have challenged similar orders and received temporary injunctions. Howell's ruling is the first permanent block. Perkins Coie hailed the decision as a win for the rule of law and legal independence. 'This ruling affirms core constitutional freedoms,' the firm said in a statement. The Justice Department has not yet commented. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
