Overview

• Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley publicly released the 29-page annex to Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report on July 31.
• The annex includes emails attributed to Leonard Benardo that allege Hillary Clinton approved a plan to tie Donald Trump to Russian election interference.
• U.S. intelligence officials and Durham’s analysts assessed the key communications as likely composite fabrications created through Russian hacking.
• Durham noted he did not rely on those emails in his main report and the annex records a CIA referral memorandum sent to the FBI about the purported Clinton campaign plan.
• President Trump, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and other Republican figures are demanding prosecutions over alleged political weaponization of intelligence, while critics warn against giving credence to possibly fabricated communications.