CIA Director John Ratcliffe described Hillary Clinton’s alleged role in pushing false Trump-Russia collusion claims as “the greatest scandal of a lifetime” during an interview with Fox News host Trey Gowdy on Sunday Night in America.
The conversation focused on the recently declassified “Durham Annex,” a report outlining allegations that the Clinton campaign orchestrated a plan to falsely tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia.
The document, which emerged as part of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation, provides insight into the origins and handling of the Trump-Russia narrative by U.S. intelligence agencies.
Ratcliffe confirmed that he and FBI Director Kash Patel plan to declassify additional documents connected to the case.
He stated the new material would demonstrate “just how sinister the FBI was in amplifying Hillary Clinton’s Steele dossier as real and credible to be included in the intelligence community assessment.”
“There will be more to come,” Ratcliffe told Gowdy. “And I think that people should expect that the Trump administration will continue to shed transparency, and light, and truth.”
He emphasized the historical weight of the revelations, calling the Russia collusion hoax “the greatest political scandal of our lifetime” and “a stain on our country that should never happen again.”
Gowdy echoed those sentiments, describing the damage as “generational” due to the erosion of public trust in government institutions.
Ratcliffe agreed and accused the FBI of concealing intelligence from foreign services indicating that “one U.S. presidential candidate was trying to frame another candidate for treason,” and claimed the agency withheld that information from Congress and the public.
Kash Patel, who served as Chief of Staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense under President Trump, issued a statement following the release of the annex, characterizing it as “smoking gun evidence.”
He said the documents confirm that “the Clinton campaign plotted to frame President Trump and fabricate the Russia collusion hoax.”
“The Russia hoax was a disgrace that President Trump and our country should’ve never been put through. This should be a step toward justice,” Patel posted on X.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also released additional material late last month.
She unveiled a declassified 2020 report from the House Intelligence Committee that she said ties the Obama administration to the development of the Russia hoax after the 2016 election.
Gabbard called the actions exposed in the report “the most egregious weaponization and politicization of intelligence in American history.”
President Trump has repeatedly referred to former President Barack Obama’s involvement in the matter as “treason.”
“If you look at that, those papers, they have him stone cold. And it was President Obama,” Trump told reporters.
“Look, he’s guilty. It’s not a question. I like to say, let’s give it time, but it’s there; he’s guilty. They … this was treason, this was every word you can think of.”
Ratcliffe reiterated Clinton’s central role in the controversy. “They just spent the next few years really amplifying the lie of Hillary Clinton’s Steele Dossier and burying the truth of her plan to frame Donald Trump,” he said.
“It is the greatest political scandal that will hopefully be the last that we’ll see in our lifetime.”
