- John Durham's investigation, released by the Biden Justice Department in 2023, found the FBI had no basis to open Crossfire Hurricane.
- Documents released by DNI Tulsi Gabbard in July 2025 confirm the FBI schemes as the 'Russian hoax' and show that CIA Director John Brennan changed an Intelligence Community Assessment in December 2016 to promote the hoax over objections from career staffers.
- In December 2016, CIA Director John Brennan changed an Intelligence Community Assessment to promote the Russian hoax over objections from career staffers.
Newly declassified intelligence documents reveal that the FBI's investigation into President Trump as a Russian asset was initiated on May 16, 2017, largely based on hearsay and speculation. This investigation was reportedly a response to Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey a week earlier.
The opening communication for the investigation, approved by James Baker and William Priestap, stated: “The FBI is opening a full investigation based on an articulable factual basis that reasonably indicates that President Donald J. Trump may be or has been, wittingly or unwittingly, involved in activities for or on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation which may constitute violations of federal criminal law or threats to the national security of the United States.”
Following this, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein initiated a special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller on May 17, 2017. This multi-million-dollar investigation concluded on April 8, 2019, with no charges filed against Trump.
The 2023 investigation by John Durham, released by the Biden Justice Department, confirmed that the FBI had no basis for opening the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which relied heavily on the discredited Steele Dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Previous intelligence released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in July 2025 referred to these actions as the “Russian hoax.”1
Additionally, it was revealed that CIA Director John Brennan altered an Intelligence Community Assessment in December 2016 to support the hoax, despite objections from some career intelligence staffers.234
“The released memos show CIA Director John Brennan altered an Intelligence Community Assessment in December 2016 over staff objections. Durham's investigation, released by the Biden Justice Department in 2023, concluded the FBI lacked grounds to open Crossfire Hurricane.”
