WASHINGTON – FBI Director Kash Patel found a “burning bag” containing thousands of documents related to the Bureau’s investigation into the Trump-Russia connections from the 2016 election campaign.
Inside this hidden area at the FBI’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, one document is linked to John Durham, who examined the operation named “Crossfire Hurricane.” This was included in a classified appendix of a report he prepared in 2023.
The 29-page appendix, which has never been made public, outlines the intelligence Durham analyzed. This information was first reported by Fox News Digital.
A “burning bag” typically refers to a container used to store classified documents set for destruction after a designated period. It’s still unclear if the documents Patel discovered were past their destruction date or were saved for future oversight.
The annex is slated to be declassified and sent to Senate Attorney Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for public release, though Grassley’s office hasn’t clarified when that will occur.
Fox News Digital mentioned that this annex contains information suggesting that foreign entities could have contributed to the narrative of the 2016 Trump campaign’s purported collusion with Russia, prior to the FBI’s initiation of “Crossfire Hurricane” in July 2016.
Key figures in the investigation include Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Attorney General Tarsi Gabbard, and National Security Agency Director William Hartman.
“I want to show everything to the public,” Trump told reporters Wednesday regarding the situation, adding that he hopes it all comes to light in a fair and reasonable manner.
The FBI’s investigation culminated in March 2019 with the release of Robert Mueller’s report, which identified links between Russians and Trump, yet found no evidence of conspiracy with the Kremlin.
Bill Barr assigned Durham to investigate the origins of “Crossfire Hurricane” in October 2020, following Congressional findings that the FBI misrepresented information when securing a warrant against then-Trump adviser Carter Page.
Durham’s conclusion criticized “Crossfire Hurricane” for its “significant flaws” and proclaimed a lack of solid evidence.
At the time Mueller was conducting his investigation, Patel was associated with Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on the Intelligence Committee, which began examining “Crossfire Hurricane” in 2017.
Last month, Patel hinted at his discovery during a conversation with podcaster Joe Rogan.
“When I got to the station, I stumbled upon a room that former FBI Director James Comey and others seemed to want to keep hidden in Hoover’s building. I locked it and restricted access, thinking ‘No one is going to find this place.’
Earlier this month, Gabbard released evidence claiming that officials from the Obama administration had previously dismissed the idea of Russia influencing the 2016 election before Comey’s FBI intervened.
One main takeaway from Gabbard’s findings suggests that the Obama administration had concluded Russia played no role in swaying the election before Comey’s involvement.
In a recent piece in The New York Times, Brennan and Clapper contended that Moscow did influence the election by affecting voter preferences prior to the vote.
“The real politicization comes from the deliberate distortion of intelligence reports by executive officials, especially Trump’s intelligence and CIA leaders,” they stated.
They added, “It’s unfortunate that the narrative persists that Russia didn’t interfere in the 2016 election. We must recognize that foreign adversaries will continue interfering in our elections unless there are serious bipartisan efforts to tackle these issues.”
