REPORT: Major Russiagate Player Pushed To ‘Compromise’ Procedure To Rush Bogus Report

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper allegedly directed underlings to “compromise” “normal” procedures to rush a politicized Intelligence Community Assessment in 2017, which contained knowingly false allegations of collusion between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign.

The 2017 ICA report has been at the center of the Russian collusion hoax investigation after current DNI Tulsi Gabbard unclassified documents detailing the fraudulent process through which it was crafted. Despite the fact that then-Director of the National Security Agency Mike Rogers, who said his team did not have “enough time” to review the report, it was ultimately authorized by other senior intelligence officials, including Clapper, then-CIA Director John Brennan and then-FBI Director James Comey.

On Wednesday, Gabbard declassified additional documents relating to the scheme, which were shared with Fox News.

“The leading figures in the Russia Hoax have spent years deceiving the American public by presenting their manufactured and politicized assessments as credible intelligence,” Gabbard told the outlet. “The email released today reinforces what we already exposed: the decision to compromise standards and violate protocols in the creation of the 2017 manufactured intelligence assessment was deliberate and came from the very top.”

“Clapper’s own words confirm that complying with the order to manufacture intelligence was a ‘team sport,’” she added.

In an email sent to Clapper, Brennan and Comey, Rogers raised concerns that he could not verify the ICA report without sufficient time to review it. “I’ve just returned from a TDY overseas and been updated on the current status of our efforts to produce a joint product related to Russian attribution and intent for the DNC/DCCC hacks,” Rogers allegedly wrote in the December 2016 email. “I know that this activity is on a fast-track and that folks have been working very hard to put together a product that can be provided to the president.”

“However, I wanted to reach out to you directly to let you know of some concerns I have with what I am hearing from my folks,” the email continued. “Specifically, I asked my team if they’d had sufficient access to the underlying intelligence and sufficient time to review that intelligence.”

Rogers further noted his team had raised several concerns. “They were clear that, at the staff level, folks have been forward-leaning and trying to ensure that we have an opportunity to review and weigh in, but I’m concerned that, given the expedited nature of this activity, my folks aren’t fully comfortable saying that they have had enough time to review all of the intelligence to be absolutely confident in their assessments,” the email continued.

Rogers noted that while he was not opposed to signing off on the report, he wanted to make sure due diligence was done so his team could properly stand behind it. “I know that you agree that this is something we need to be 100% comfortable with before we present it to the President—we have one chance to get this right, and it is critical that we do so,” Rogers allegedly wrote. “If the intent is to create an integrated product that is CIA/FBI/NSA jointly-authored that we can all defend, we need a process that allows us all to be comfortable, and I’m concerned we are not there yet.”

Ultimately, Rogers stated that if the NSA were to be involved with the report, he would need to see more substantial evidence supporting its conclusions.

Hours later, Clapper allegedly replied to Rogers’ email, which copied Comey and Brennan. “Understand your concern,” Clapper allegedly wrote. “It is essential that we (CIA/NSA/FBI/ODNI) be on the same page, and are all supportive of the report—in the highest tradition of ‘that’s OUR story, and we’re sticking’ to it.’”

“This evening, CIA has provided to the NIC the complete draft generated by the ad hoc fusion cell,” the email continued. The “ad hoc fusion cell” refers to the small team created by Brennan to draft the 2017 ICA, intelligence officials familiar with the matter told Fox News.

“We will facilitate as much mutual transparency as possible as we complete the report, but, more time is not negotiable,” Clapper wrote. “We may have to compromise on our ‘normal’ modalities, since we must do this on such a compressed schedule.”

Clapper concluded the email with, “This is one project that has to be a team sport.”

The 2017 ICA ultimately assessed that “Russia was responsible for leaking data from the DNC and DCCC,” referencing the damaging WikiLeaks emails that constituted an October surprise against the Clinton Campaign. Intelligence officials told Fox News that this “failed to mention that FBI and NSA previously expressed low confidence in this attribution.”