When Obama administration officials manufactured U.S. intelligence tying Donald Trump to Moscow following his stunning 2016 victory, they had no idea Trump’s own political appointees would help them undermine Trump’s presidency – and his chances of reelection in 2020.
RCI’s review of recently declassified documents and exclusive interviews with former Trump officials reveals for the first time how key members of Trump’s cabinet and other appointees during his first term shrouded the previous administration’s machinations and either deliberately or inadvertently misled the public into thinking the fake Russiagate intelligence was real.
Former Special Counsel John Durham, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former CIA Director Gina Haspel dismissed or buried evidence that cast doubt on a foundational document of the Russigate hoax – the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) prepared in the waning days of the Obama administration.
Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr, stopped the declassification and release of key exculpatory evidence debunking the ICA on the eve of the 2020 election, which has not been reported previously. (RealClearInvestigations, 11/20/2025)
BREAKING: John Durham Stopped John Ratcliffe from Declassifying and Releasing Damning Report Debunking Obama-Ordered Intel on Russia Before 2020 Electionhttps://t.co/ppLBX86pEQ
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) November 21, 2025
“After we gave Durham the report, along with over a thousand pages of other classified documents, he went ghost,” said the former senior intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We didn’t hear from him, and he didn’t appear to do anything with the report.”
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) November 21, 2025
durham and barr went over to italy/malta to interview Mifsud…..then mysteriously lost the tapes of that interview.
when that came out, i knew w 1000% certainty, that they too were in on the sedition
— FreedomRings (@FRings4Ever) November 21, 2025
They suppressed the ICA that would have thrown cold water on the theory Trump was colluding with Putin. The devils within the administrations.
This included Barr, Durham, Bolton, Pompeo, Haspel, and other Trump appointees who, instead of exposing the scandal, suppressed it.
— Lizbeth (@dinahgirl88) November 21, 2025