U.S. senators on the Homeland Security Committee have subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray and "all" of the documents relating to Obamagate, also known as Crossfire Hurricane, the Obama administration's campaign to investigate and undermine President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
The action was announced by Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and demands Wray provide "all records related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation."
That was the series of maneuvers during the Obama administration to investigate and spy on the Trump campaign, even bringing process charges against a number of Trump associates during the campaign and after his election. The now-debunked allegations were that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia, but the claims were based largely on an opposition document, the Steele dossier, funded by Hillary Clinton, that has proven unreliable at best.
Fox News reported the FBI must provide to the committee on Aug. 20, "all records provided or made available to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice for its review."
It also requires "all records related to requests" to the General Services Administration or the Office of the Inspector General for the GSA for "presidential transition records from November 2016 through December 2017."
The DOJ's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, previously reviewed a significant amount of materials, and reported there were a large number of failings or mistakes made during the series of events that involved the Obama administration spying on the Trump campaign.
The FBI, in a statement, noted that it already has been producing documents for the committee, and it will continue to cooperate.
The committee voted in June to authorize a long list of subpoenas, although most have not been issued yet.
Also authorized have been subpoenas to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the "unmasking" scandal which existed during the closing days of the Obama administration, as well as former FBI Counsel James Baker, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, Joe Pientka, former White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former FBI director of counterintelligence Bill Priestap, former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, Sidney Blumenthal, and a number of other Obama-era officials.
Barack Obama (Video screenshot)
According to the Washington Examiner, Johnson also "released an 11-page letter on Monday defending the combined efforts between himself and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to investigate alleged FBI misconduct."
"As the FBI had done since the beginning of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, rather than using exculpatory information to end their investigation, the FBI ramped it up. Confidential human sources became FISA wiretaps; top FBI officials argued for inclusion of the unverified and salacious Steele dossier to be included in the body of the Obama administration’s Intelligence Community Assessment, and finally, the FBI investigation ballooned into a special counsel investigation,” Johnson wrote. “As a result, the Trump administration was tormented for over two years by an aggressive investigation and media speculation, all based on a false narrative. This has taken a tremendous toll on our country. Had the public known what the FBI knew at that time about its Trump-Russia inquiry, it’s hard to imagine public support for continuing the investigation, much less the appointment of a special counsel four months later."
Key to the entire scandal is how the Obama administration went to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to obtain permission to spy on those in the Trump campaign.
"Both former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates recently testified that they never would have signed the FISA warrant applications against [Trump campaign volunteer Carter] Page if they knew then what they know now," the Examiner reported.
Also in focus is the relationship between then-VP Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars to be on its board.
"Democrats and many in the media have mainly focused their criticism of our investigation on the Biden component of our oversight... In their current attempt to circle the wagons around Biden, they have once again decided to weaponize a false ‘Russian disinformation’ narrative as a tool for attacking their political opponents,” Johnson said. “As Chairman Grassley and I have pointed out in rebuttals to their unfounded accusations, it is Democrats who have sought out and disseminated Russian disinformation. It was the Democratic National Committee, together with cutouts for the Clinton campaign, that paid for and helped peddle the Steele dossier."
Johnson explained in his letter that his work is focusing on "allegations of conflicts of interest within the Obama administration related to Ukraine policy and, second, allegations of corruption within the Obama administration affecting the 2016 election, the transition between administrations, and Obama administration holdovers' sabotage of the Trump administration."
Johnson explains how his work previously uncovered ex-FBI chief James Comey's efforts to protect Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of an investigation into her inappropriate use of a private email setup for national secrets while she was secretary of state.
Previously Johnson's work resulted in a report that identified 125 "leaks" of government information during the first 126 days of the Trump administration, including dozens that threatened national security.
"Leaks of this nature are proof that individuals within the administration, the departments and agencies, have engaged in activities that seek to undermine the president's policies," the letter said.
He said another focus is the Biden family: "We didn't target Joe and Hunter Biden for investigation; their previous actions had put them in the middle of it," he said.
He said he "could not disagree more" with Joe Biden's claim that there was "no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity" regarding Hunter Biden's position on Burisma's board.
The letter described it as the Biden's family's "profiteering off of" Joe Biden's "official responsibilities," since Joe Biden's brothers and sister-in-law, Frank, James and Sara Biden, "also are reported to have benefited financially from his work as well."
"As our investigation continues, more will be uncovered and revealed, " the letter said. "As always, almost all of the documents we are seeking and will make public are from U.S. sources. Everything will be carefully verified for accuracy and veracity. Chairman Grassley and I will not be deterred by the false accusations despicably being made by individuals with strong political biases and motivations. Our investigation has been, and will continue to be, undertaken with the greatest integrity and transparency. We intend to determine and reveal the truth."
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