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Yet even as Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation later confirmed there was no criminal conspiracy, the idea of Trump-Russia collusion remained embedded in public discourse for years—thanks in part to figures who kept the storyline alive.
One of the most striking admissions came from James Clapper, who testified bluntly:
“I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election. That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…. But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence.”
Equally revealing was former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s lack of knowledge about any collusion proof. Under questioning, she said:
“I did not recall that being briefed up to me. I can’t say that it existed or not.”
But the intrigue goes deeper. Documents show both Clapper and Lynch were in the Oval Office on July 28, 2016, alongside then-Vice President Joe Biden, when CIA Director John Brennan informed President Obama and FBI Director James Comey of a troubling piece of intel. The information reportedly stemmed from a foreign policy advisor connected to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Its alleged purpose? To “vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.”
Brennan’s own handwritten notes from October 2020 spelled out the intelligence in stark terms:
“We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from (REDACTED)… alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.”
Shortly afterward, this intelligence was handed off to James Comey and Peter Strzok—who was the FBI’s Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence—via a CIA communication referencing none other than “Crossfire Hurricane,” the code name for the FBI’s probe into the Trump campaign.
The CIA memo laid it out explicitly:
“Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date. An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”
And just days later, on July 31, 2016, the FBI officially launched Crossfire Hurricane.
Other high-profile Obama officials also admitted they possessed no smoking-gun evidence against Trump. When questioned, Samantha Power flat-out denied ever seeing anything definitive:
“I am not in possession of anything – I am not in possession and didn’t read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community.”
Pressed again, she reiterated:
“I am not.”
Susan Rice, Obama’s national security advisor at the time, similarly recalled no clear-cut intelligence proving conspiracy. She explained:
“To the best of my recollection, there wasn’t anything smoking, but there were some things that gave me pause. I don’t recall intelligence that I would consider evidence to that effect that I saw… conspiracy prior to my departure.”
When Rice was pressed further on whether she’d seen proof of “coordination,” she responded:
“I don’t recall any intelligence or evidence to that effect.”
And when asked about collusion, she gave the same answer.
Nearly every Obama-era official shared the same refrain—there simply was no hard evidence. Yet the collusion narrative was pushed relentlessly for years, shaping media coverage and political discourse and even fueling the special counsel’s lengthy probe.
Meanwhile, Fox News reports that former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are themselves under criminal investigation by the Justice Department. Sources confirmed an ongoing probe but kept details under wraps.
If this investigation bears fruit, it could expose the origins of one of the biggest political scandals in modern American history—and leave many Americans asking why the narrative persisted when so many top officials knew there was nothing solid behind it.
