CIA chief states Russiagate was ploy to ‘screw Trump’
(MENAFN) CIA Director John Ratcliffe has claimed that the 2016 U.S. intelligence report on alleged Russian interference in the presidential election was a politically motivated effort to damage then-President-elect Donald Trump. In an interview with the New York Post published Wednesday, Ratcliffe said the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), ordered by outgoing President Barack Obama, was manipulated by top intelligence officials to suggest Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow.
The internal CIA review, declassified this week, revealed that the ICA's creation was chaotic and rushed, with unusual involvement from then-CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. According to the review, their heavy-handed involvement raised concerns about political motives, especially given the report’s rushed release just weeks before the presidential transition.
The review also criticized Brennan for pushing the inclusion of the now-discredited Steele dossier—a collection of unverified claims about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia—compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele and reportedly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Ratcliffe argued that the entire process was a calculated move by Obama-era officials to portray Trump as compromised by Russia, while silencing dissenting voices within the intelligence community. “This was Obama, Comey, Clapper, and Brennan deciding, ‘We’re going to screw Trump,’” he said, describing their actions as a manipulation of the intelligence process.
The report added that media leaks before the ICA was even completed contributed to public bias and suspicion, with mainstream outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times reinforcing the collusion narrative through unnamed sources.
Although Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation later found no evidence of collusion, the initial ICA and subsequent FBI Crossfire Hurricane probe cast a long shadow over Trump’s presidency. Russia has consistently denied interfering in the election.
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