American Politics > Obama weaponized the FBI as Soros contributed to Russiagate

 

This is not only Deep State but Dark State, only capable by powerful godless entities

FBI was ‘weaponized’ in Obama-Clinton conspiracy to ‘stop Trump’ – top US senator

The newly declassified Russiagate document exposes a deep state coverup, Chuck Grassley says

FILE PHOTO. Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, arrives for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. ©  Getty Images / CQ-Roll Call, Inc / Bill Clark

The newly released annex to John Durham’s 2023 Special Counsel report exposes the “weaponization” of the FBI under the Obama administration and the agency’s involvement in an attempt to ruin Donald Trump's presidency in 2016, US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has said.

The senator, a key figure behind the release of the 29-page document, made the remarks to Fox News on Thursday shortly after the annex was published. The file outlines the alleged effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia, and the FBI’s failure to properly investigate the activities despite having solid intelligence.

“[The Durham annex] gives us information that the FBI had eight to ten years ago that they never followed up on. It actually brings attention to the fact that there was either a Clinton conspiracy to make this happen, or Russian disinformation. Either way, it was an attempt to stop Trump, and it proves that the FBI had a hand in it,” Grassley stated.

Declassified Durham Annex Released by Chairman Grassley

The annex provides “evidence of 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,” the senator suggested. America needs “maximum transparency” on the 2016 presidential race “schemes” that were hatched “to either stop Trump from being elected or… to ruin his presidency,” he added.

READ MORE: Declassified document links Russiagate hoax to Soros

According to the document, the FBI obtained intelligence on “confidential conversations” between then-Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and individuals at George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in early 2016, yet did not take any action. The conversations reportedly detailed a plan to discredit the then-Republican candidate by preparing “scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the Russian Mafia.”

The agency allegedly obtained further evidence on the matter in mid-2016, including several “likely authentic” emails sent by Leonard Benardo, senior vice president of the Open Society Foundations. The emails further detailed the plot to “disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated ‘attic-based’ technical structures,” and appeared to predict a future FBI probe into Russiagate, suggesting the agency “will put more oil into the fire” later on.

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Corruption is Everywhere - From the White House to Langley > Russiagate Obama's call

 

Russiagate was a ploy to ‘screw Trump’

– CIA boss

The Obama administration’s top spies manipulated the probe from the onset, according to John Ratcliffe

FILE PHOTO: CIA director John Ratcliffe. ©  Global Look Press / CNP / Chris Kleponis

A US intelligence report on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, commissioned by then-President Barack Obama, was nothing more than deliberate manipulation, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has said, citing his agency’s recent internal review.

Known as the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Election Interference (ICA), the report kickstarted the Russiagate conspiracy, prompted special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry, and “ate up the first two years” of President Donald Trump’s first term, Ratcliffe said in an interview with the New York Post published on Wednesday. The new CIA head ordered an internal review of the report in May.

Obama ordered the ICA just six weeks before leaving office. According to the CIA review of its drafting and rushed release, declassified on Wednesday, then-CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were unusually and “excessively involved” in the process.

“The rushed timeline to publish both classified and unclassified versions before the presidential transition raised questions about a potential political motive behind the White House tasking and timeline,” the review said, calling the work on the report “chaotic,” “atypical,” and “markedly unconventional.”

The CIA review found that Brennan had effectively directed the compilation of the ICA and particularly insisted on including the later discredited Steele dossier, a compilation of unverified rumors about Trump and his alleged links to Russia.

The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and reportedly funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

READ MORE: Trump declassifies FBI files on Russia probe

“This was Obama, Comey, Clapper, and Brennan deciding, ‘We’re going to screw Trump,’” Ratcliffe said, commenting on his agency’s findings. “It was, ‘We’re going to create this and put the imprimatur of an IC assessment in a way that nobody can question it.’ They stamped it as Russian collusion and then classified it so nobody could see it.”

“Brennan and Clapper and Comey manipulated [and] silenced all the career professionals and railroaded the process,” the CIA director added.

American public opinion was further manipulated by constant media leaks and unnamed officials cited by The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other mainstream outlets.

“Before work on the assessment even began, media leaks suggesting that the IC had already reached definitive conclusions risked creating an anchoring bias,” the review noted.

READ MORE: Hollywood legend Oliver Stone blasts ‘Russiagate lies’

The ICA, as well as the FBI’s 2016 ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation and the subsequent Mueller inquiry, cast a long shadow over Trump’s first term, with allegations of “Russian collusion” persisting in the media even after Mueller’s report found no evidence to support them. Moscow has also repeatedly denied any election interference.

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Latin America Rising > Narco gangs stifling development; Melei creates Argentine FBI equivalent to combat organized crime

 

Organized crime stifles Latin America's

economic development

By Osvaldo Silva

Organized crime, including drug smuggling is stifling Latin America's economy, according to a recent report by the World Bank. Photo by Carrasco Ragel/EPA-EFE

June 27 (UPI) -- Latin America and the Caribbean rank among the regions with the highest rates of criminal activity worldwide, marked by a strong presence of illicit markets and limited institutional capacity to combat them.

Organized crime has become one of the biggest obstacles to economic development in the region, according to a World Bank report. The report points to four main drivers: territorial control, criminal governance, institutional capture and systemic violence.

In addition to producing and consuming large quantities of cocaine, Latin American criminal groups play a central role in trafficking the drug to the United States and the European Union. These networks are tightly linked to criminal organizations around the world and have a significant impact on the region's economy, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, or GI-TOC.

Although the region makes up just 9% of the world's population, it accounts for about one-third of global homicides, with rates up to eight times higher than the global average. Twelve Latin American countries are among the 50 most affected by organized crime, according to GI-TOC.

A study by the Inter-American Development Bank, led by Argentine researcher Santiago Pérez-Vicent, estimates that criminal organizations cause economic losses equal to 3.5% of the region's gross domestic product. That figure represents 78% of the regional education budget, twice the amount spent on social assistance and 12 times the investment in research and development.

Colombia, Peru and Bolivia dominate global cocaine production, while Mexico, Brazil and several Central American countries serve as key transit and distribution routes to major consumer markets in North America and Europe.

Cocaine's impact in Latin America goes beyond the global illicit economy, fueling violent clashes among rival cartels across the region.

In Mexico, about 30,000 teenagers are involved in organized crime, according to the Legal Research Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. They engage in 22 types of criminal activity, including drug trafficking and kidnapping, with many recruited as hitmen due to their age and vulnerability.

Alongside major cartels in Colombia and Mexico, new groups have emerged, including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and Brazil's Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC. These organizations have developed new strategies to traffic drugs -- including substances beyond cocaine -- into the United States and the European Union.

Experts and international organizations say organized crime in the region has evolved significantly. Fragmented and diversified networks are expanding through alliances with foreign groups, including Albanian and Italian mafias.

While most governments in the region focus on combating drug trafficking, cocaine production is only one part of a broader criminal economy. According to The Evolution of Organized Crime in Latin America, a report by researchers Lucía Dammert and Carolina Sampó, organized crime also drives illegal mining, migrant smuggling and human trafficking -- activities that severely impact communities and threaten regional and global security.

Illicit activities have expanded into markets with direct human impact, including logging, livestock operations, the cultivation of prohibited plant species and large-scale illegal and unregulated fishing, according to the report.

"Human and arms trafficking, prostitution, the spread of synthetic drugs, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, contract killings and illegal mining -- which in countries like Peru and Colombia generate as much or more revenue than drug trafficking -- are among the criminal enterprises that have taken hold," said Pablo Zeballos, a former intelligence officer and international organized crime consultant, in an interview with the BBC.

In recent years, several Latin American countries that were once relatively free of gang-led violence have experienced growing insecurity, violence and lawlessness.

Organized crime has shaped life in places like Mexico, Colombia and Brazil for decades, said Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, in a podcast for Americas Quarterly. "Now, historically more peaceful countries such as Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay are starting to experience rising levels of violence," he added.

The expansion of organized crime in Latin America has been driven by a lack of effective coordination among regional governments, limiting joint responses to transnational threats such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling and human trafficking, according to reports from GI-TOC and InSight Crime.

This structural weakness is compounded by the steady erosion of institutions in several countries, marked by high levels of corruption, impunity and limited operational capacity within law enforcement.

Together, these conditions have created power vacuums that criminal groups exploit to establish sophisticated networks of territorial control, infiltrate legal economies and overwhelm national response systems.

Latin America needs a Latin Interpol.

Read More

• Ecuador's most wanted drug lord recaptured after 18 months on the run
• Number of Brazilian millionaires rises to nearly 400,000
• Latin America's identity documents are highly vulnerable

Argentina launches FBI-style federal investigations agency

By Macarena Hermosilla

Argentinian President Javier Milei approved the creation of an FBI-like federal criminal investigation agency. File Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo

June 26 (UPI) -- President Javier Milei has approved the creation of the Federal Investigations Department (DFI), a strategic step aimed at transforming the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) into a specialized federal criminal investigation agency.

The department's primary mission is to lead investigations into drug trafficking, organized crime, human trafficking, financial crimes and terrorism, replacing routine patrols with specialized investigative units.

National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said Argentina needs a modern force with the real capacity to dismantle criminal organizations.

Bullrich said the DFI will be the core of the new federal police, which will no longer function as a uniformed force. It will be supported by state security and diplomatic protection services.

Related

• COC Global Enterprise acquires Argentine airline Flybondi
• Latin America's identity documents are highly vulnerable
• Electronic waste surges in Latin America amid lack of recycling laws

"It will focus all efforts on one key task: getting to the root of every criminal organization that seeks power and money in this country," she said.

The National Security Ministry will retain the National Gendarmerie, Airport Security Police and Federal Penitentiary Service as uniformed forces.

Bullrich said the new federal police will gradually become a force of detectives and specialized investigators serving the federal judiciary nationwide. She likened the DFI to the FBI.

The DFI will coordinate operations of the Superintendency for Drug Trafficking Investigations, the Federal Crimes Investigation Unit, regional and federal agencies, criminal intelligence units and other tactical support teams, including firefighters and Special Operations.

The DFI has been granted broad authority. One of its main roles is investigating drug trafficking networks in border provinces that have become major entry and exit points for large-scale shipments -- cocaine from Bolivia and marijuana from Paraguay.

Another priority is combating transnational organized crime groups, including Brazil's Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and Italian and Russian mafias known to be active in Argentina.

A controversial provision allows the new force to monitor public digital spaces -- such as social media platforms and websites -- for preventive purposes. The new law governing the federal police provides a legal framework for investigating complex crimes, including technological surveillance, "while also guaranteeing respect for civil liberties and preventing abuses," the ministry said.

The department is also authorized to detain individuals for up to 10 hours to verify their identity if they cannot confirm who they are and are suspected of being wanted by the courts.

It is further empowered to launch investigations without prior court approval and will have access to both public and private databases.

The new law aims to professionalize both current and future personnel. Modeled after criminal intelligence agencies such as the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and counterparts in Israel and the European Union, the department is expected to recruit university graduates, IT specialists and criminologists.

Political opposition and human rights groups have criticized the reforms.

The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) warned that the lack of clarity in many provisions could open the door to criminalizing social organizations, suppressing protests, conducting mass digital surveillance of dissenters, and taking law enforcement action without judicial oversight.

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The First Casualty > Truth must be hidden from Ukrainians; Oliver Stone speaks the truth again

 

Better that Ukrainians don’t know the truth – Kiev’s spy chief

General Kirill Budanov has said people should remain unaware of the “harsh reality” of the conflict with Russia

FILE PHOTO: Kirill Budanov (center), the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, May 2024. ©  Vladimir Tarasov / Keystone Press Agency via Global Look Press

Many Ukrainians cannot handle the “harsh reality” of the conflict with Russia and should be kept in the dark about the details, Kiev’s military intelligence chief has said.

Three-star general Kirill Budanov expressed his views on information censorship during wartime in a conversation with journalist Anna Maksimchuk on Saturday, suggesting that much of the truth of the conflict should only become public knowledge to Ukrainians in the future.

”During wartime, knowing the whole truth is not necessary. Otherwise, people may develop opinions,” Budanov said. “Some minds are not prepared to grasp the harsh reality. Let’s not put them to the test. Everything should be dosed.”

Since 2020, Budanov has led the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (HUR) – an agency reportedly rebuilt from scratch by the CIA following the 2014 armed coup in Kiev to serve as a tool against Russia.

According to Grok: Was the CIA instrumental in rebuilding the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry?

1 post, 15 web pages

Yes, the CIA played a significant role in rebuilding the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Following the 2014 Euromaidan events in Ukraine, the CIA began working closely with Ukrainian intelligence to transform and strengthen its capabilities, particularly as Ukraine shifted away from Russian influence. This partnership deepened over time, especially under the leadership of Valeriy Kondratyuk, who headed HUR from 2015 to 2016. Kondratyuk actively sought U.S. assistance to reform the agency, which had previously been compromised by Russian penetration....

Read more

 Ukraine’s top general calls for censorship

Prior to the escalation of hostilities with Russia in 2022, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky cracked down on critical media, claiming to do so in order to fight against local oligarchs under Moscow’s influence.

During the conflict, Kiev launched a news marathon with programming said to be directly controlled by the president’s office – which critics have called state propaganda. Additionally, under martial law, Zelensky banned several opposition parties, claiming they posed a national security threat.

Earlier this year, turmoil swept through Ukraine’s media landscape following US President Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization used by Washington to promote its political agenda through foreign grants.

Researcher Oksana Romanyuk estimated in January that nearly 90% of Ukrainian outlets relied on foreign aid, with 80% specifically receiving funding from USAID.

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The proxy war in Ukraine between Russia and America began before 2014. From then until 2022, Russia was the target of fear, hate, and spectacular lies. Not that Russia is a saintly country, but it is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be by the CIA, FBI, NATO, etc. And it is no threat to Europe. 

Oliver Stone is right on, as usual!

Hollywood legend Oliver Stone blasts ‘Russiagate lies’

The filmmaker has said hatred of the country is a product of propaganda

Filmmaker Oliver Stone testifies before the House Oversight Committee at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, April 1, 2025. ©  Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

Oscar-winning American movie director Oliver Stone has said the claims that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election were nothing but lies.

For years, Democrats have claimed that the Kremlin waged a covert campaign to sway the race in favor of then-candidate and current President Donald Trump.

А 2019 report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller alleged that the Russian government interfered in the election “in sweeping and systematic fashion,” mostly through hacking and messaging on social media.

The investigation, however, “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” according to the final report.

A Fox News reporter asked Stone last week whether he thinks Trump is right to “take on” the FBI and the CIA after “what happened to him with the Russia probe.” 

“I know. Look at Russiagate; we paid for it,” the filmmaker replied. “I applaud [what Trump is doing].”

Read more

 Trump declassifies FBI files on Russia probe

“I hate what they did with Russiagate. I really do. I think it’s, again, the lying, the lying, the lying, and selling that to the American people,” Stone said.

“And the whole thing with hating Russia is so negative. It’s so un-American. They are potentially our best partners. As are the Chinese, actually. We have this mentality that they are the enemy. That’s all been inoculated by propaganda,” the director of ‘Platoon’ and ‘JFK’ said.

Mueller accused Trump of attempting to obstruct his probe, and a number of former Trump campaign staffers were indicted as a result of the investigation, but not the president himself.

Trump has maintained that Russiagate was part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” aimed at discrediting and undermining his presidency. He dismissed the accusations in the Mueller Report as “fabricated and totally untrue.” 

The Kremlin has denied that it meddles in US elections. In 2016, President Vladimir Putin described the claims of Russian interference as “a mythical, imaginary problem” and a product of “hysteria.”

It is what is necessary to keep the War Industry inventories moving and filthy fortunes going to War Industry oligarchs.

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