U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a federal grand jury investigation of the Obama administration’s handling of Russian interference in the United States’ 2016 presidential election.
CNN reports, “The move follows a referral from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who declassified documents in July that she alleges undermine the Obama administration’s conclusion that Russia tried to help [Donald] Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.”
Attorney Harry Litman, in response, described Bondi’s probe as badly flawed in an article published by The New Republic on August.
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Litman wrote, “The supposed purpose of their scheme: to promote a ‘false narrative’ that Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, engaged in an operation to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election with the intent of helping Trump win. Problem #1: there’s nothing whatsoever false about this narrative. The Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), prepared by career professionals and our intelligence agencies, indeed concluded: ‘Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.’”
Bondi’s probe of Obama officials is also drawing a lot of reactions on X, formerly Twitter.
Sen. John Cornyn, who called for a special counsel to investigate the Obama Administration’s Russiagate probe, spoke to CNN’s Manu Raju and said of Bondi, “I trust her judgement.”
But CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, argued, “Here we are, nine years later. The statute of limitations on most federal crimes is going to be five years. So I’m skeptical. But look, this is going to happen largely behind closed doors, and we’ll see where it goes.”
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Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, a Never Trump conservative, tweeted, “CNN: Attorney General Bondi orders prosecutors to start grand jury probe into Obama officials over Russia investigation. The unprecedented abuse of the Justice Dept — to stroke one man’s ego — gets taken to a new level.”
Attorney Fernando Oliver tweeted, “Pam Bondi orders grand jury probe of Obama administration review of 2016 election — a b—— probe to please Trump.”
Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance posted, “Law firms, universities, media companies, and now banks. If people don’t understand what’s happening to our country, it’s because they don’t want to.”
HuffPost’s Yashar Ali tweeted, “A grand jury would be able to issue subpoenas as part of a criminal investigation into renewed allegations that Democratic officials tried to smear Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign by falsely alleging his campaign was colluding with the Russian government. It could also consider an indictment should the Justice Department decide to pursue a criminal case.”
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