A newly declassified appendix to Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report, released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on July 31, 2025, has revealed explosive details about an alleged Hillary Clinton campaign plan to falsely tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
The 29-page document, dubbed the Durham Annex, also highlights the FBI’s failure to investigate credible intelligence suggesting the Clinton campaign orchestrated the now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion narrative.
The Durham Annex, declassified at Grassley’s request with support from Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, details intercepted communications that point to a coordinated effort to distract from Clinton’s email server scandal.
According to the report, intelligence obtained by the FBI in early 2016 included memoranda describing “confidential conversations” between then Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and two individuals at George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, Leonard Benardo and Jeffrey Goldstein.
A January 2016 memorandum suggested that President Barack Obama intended to suppress an FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information during her tenure as Secretary of State.
Further, a March 2016 memorandum outlined a Clinton campaign strategy to discredit Trump by alleging ties to Russian organised crime.
The Annex cites emails allegedly sent by Benardo, Senior Vice President of Soros’ Open Society Foundations, indicating that Clinton personally approved a plan proposed by her foreign policy adviser, Julianne Smith, to smear Trump by linking him to Russian hackers.
One email, dated July 25, 2016, reportedly stated:
“Julie [Smith] says it will be a long-term affair to demonise Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later, the FBI will put more oil into the fire.”
Another email claimed:
“HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] approved Julie’s idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections,” suggesting the campaign aimed to shift attention from Clinton’s email controversy.
The Durham annex criticises the FBI, under then-Director James Comey, for failing to investigate these intelligence reports, despite being aware of their existence before launching the controversial Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump’s alleged Russia ties on July 31, 2016.
Durham noted that the FBI dismissed the intelligence as not credible without taking steps to corroborate or disprove the allegations, which he described as a “clear warning sign” that the agency might have been manipulated for political purposes during the 2016 election.
Grassley, in a statement, called the findings “one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history,” accusing the Obama-era FBI of neglecting to scrutinise evidence that the Clinton campaign was behind the Russia collusion narrative, propagated in part through the discredited Steele Dossier.
The dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC through Fusion GPS, was used to obtain FISA warrants to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, despite FBI knowledge by 2017 that it may have contained Russian disinformation.
Adding to the controversy, the Daily Mail reported that the Durham Annex was among documents discovered in FBI “burn bags” intended for destruction, suggesting an attempt to conceal evidence. Grassley emphasised the need for “maximum transparency” to address what he described as the weaponisation of law enforcement and intelligence agencies against Trump.
However, a Washington Post report cautioned that the FBI was unable to verify the authenticity of the intelligence, with Durham’s team noting it could be “entirely genuine, partially true, a composite pulled from multiple sources, exaggerated, or fabricated.”
A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations called claims of their involvement in orchestrating an FBI investigation “an outrageous falsehood” rooted in Russian disinformation.
As of August 1, 2025, neither Clinton nor her former campaign advisers have publicly responded to the Annex’s release. The declassification follows recent disclosures by Gabbard, who alleged that Obama-era officials manipulated intelligence to undermine Trump’s 2016 campaign and presidency.
Grassley’s ongoing oversight efforts aim to uncover further details about the handling of these intelligence reports, which he claims were buried for years.
The revelations have reignited debates over the politicisation of federal agencies, with Grassley vowing to continue his pursuit of accountability for what he calls a “shameful fraud” perpetrated on the American public.
Sources
- Grassley.senate.gov: Newly Declassified Appendix to Durham Report Sheds Additional Light on Clinton Campaign Plan to Falsely Tie Trump to Russia and FBI’s Failure to Investigate
- AOL: Bombshell report indicates Clinton, Soros group plotted to ’demonize’ Trump
- Daily Mail: Bombshell dossier from FBI’s ’burn bags’ claims Hillary approved plot to smear Trump over Russia