U.S. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley on the 31st (local time) released parts of the declassified report by special counsel John Durham, raising allegations that intelligence agencies targeted former President Donald Trump politically during the Barack Obama administration.
According to Newsmax, Senator Grassley noted in a news release he issued that "the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under Obama knew that the Hillary Clinton campaign possibly created a false collusion narrative between Trump and Russia, yet did not investigate it properly." The document includes indications that Clinton's camp tried to associate Trump with the 'Russian mafia' for political gain.
The declassified attachments of the Durham report are also said to contain indications that President Obama attempted to halt the investigation into then-Secretary of State Clinton's emails in 2016. Senator Grassley criticized this, calling it "one of the largest political scandals and cover-ups in American history."
Former President Trump mentioned this in an interview with the New York Post, asserting that "this is serious treason." He emphasized, "They made up all these stories, and it was just fake," adding that "everything, including orders and memos, is on record."
Trump stated, "What they did put the country at risk," directly criticizing former President Obama, as well as former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director General John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, and former FBI Director General James Comey.
In response, former Director General Clapper refuted in an interview with CNN, saying, "Such claims are clearly false and without basis." Former Director General Brennan also stated in an interview with MSNBC, "There is absolutely no reason I should be a subject of investigation."
The controversy over the politicization of intelligence agencies has been raised consistently since the Russia investigation. The additional release of the Durham report shows that the related disputes continue to shake the political sphere even after the election. The Republican Party is using this release as a catalyst to demand accountability and a re-investigation, indicating that further controversies are expected.