Adam Schiff: Soon after the Democrat took control of the House Intelligence Committee, its review of the drafting of the intelligence community assessment was classified and locked in a Capitol basement safe. (Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
On October 23, 2017, the FBI opened “Genetic Christmas” – the investigation into leaks of classified information to NBC News published in their December 14, 2016 article “U.S. Officials: Putin Personally Involved in U.S. Election Hack.” The article alleged:
U.S. intelligence officials now believe with “a high level of confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News.
Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said.
These conclusions by the Obama Administration would eventually be repeated in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) which was provided to President Obama in early January 2017. We previously addressed the Intelligence Community’s reliance on bogus documents and whistleblower concerns about the politicization of the ICA.
As with the Flynn leak investigation, it was difficult for the FBI to determine exactly who knew about the “new intelligence” or the allegations (false) of Putin’s approval of the DNC/DCCC hack. They determined 46 FBI employees had access to the information and that there were “an unknown number of individuals, at least 15 based on names provided during interviews, who had access to the GENETIC CHRISTMAS information through verbal briefings and discussions.” The FBI also observed that US Senators were briefed on the Russian assessments on November 28, 2016 and December 9, 2016.
Thus, “the investigation revealed an unquantifiable subject pool because there is no way fully determine the scope of dissemination of the GENETIC CHRISTMAS information prior to its release.”
With the unknown subject pool and delays in witness interviews and the criminal referral (approximately 9 months after the leak), the FBI found it difficult to develop leads. Genetic Christmas was subsequently closed in February 2020.
Related to this investigation was a November 5, 2023, FBI interview of a former staffer with Congressman Adam Schiff. The staffer described a meeting with Schiff and his staff, where:
“SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. Trump. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President Trump.”
As summarized from his interview, the former staffer was eventually informed that the DOJ would not investigate the matter further due to Congressional immunity, though there is no legal basis to conclude that leaks to the media or leaks by staffers are protected by the Constitution.
The November 2023 interview with the staffer was essentially a follow-up of other interviews with the staffer that took place beginning in August 2017, where he described how Schiff and Democrats would plan their “leaking process”, how staffers described their contacts with journalists concerning Russia and the 2016 election, and the identities of three staffers who were likely responsible for leaks. (These leaks and the DOJ’s process to obtain records of members of Congress, their staffers, and members of the media, would eventually be part of an Inspector General report, available here.)
After the 2016 election, Adam Schiff was particularly distraught, as he thought he would be appointed CIA Director under Hillary Clinton – a frightening proposition. In February 2017, hoping to create a public fervor surrounding the Trump/Russia hoax, the Democrats instructed their staffers to use their Intelligence Community sources “to gather [classified] information, which would then be made public through the media in order to compel public opinion.”
The leaks were “driven from the top” and “structured and intentional.” One of their targets was General Flynn, though their ultimate goal was trying to get Trump impeached. Democrat staffers justified leaks of classified information because they believed they were “in the middle of a constitutional crisis.” (Read more: Techno Fog, 8/13/2025) (Archive)