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The Department of Justice made a sweeping request to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week for more information about allegations of a 2016 conspiracy to tie President Donald Trump to Russia, marking the next step in the department’s grand jury inquiry into the matter.
A DOJ prosecutor asked the ODNI for a range of documents to supplement Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s recent request to the DOJ to investigate Obama administration officials over the alleged conspiracy. The Federalist first reported on the prosecutor’s request. A source familiar with the request confirmed the veracity of the report to Fox News Digital.
The prosecutor requested in a letter to the ODNI a dozen categories of items, including any nonpublic material Gabbard had pertaining to the tranche of declassified documents she made public in July.
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Gabbard also revealed Tuesday night on the Ingraham Angle that she had met that day with the DOJ prosecutors involved in the grand jury inquiry. Gabbard said they “have more questions, and they’re going to be really taking a deep dive into this again.”
“They are committed to leaving no stone unturned as they conduct this grand jury investigation and find the truth,” Gabbard said.
The revelation that a meeting had occurred and that a DOJ official leading the grand jury inquiry is seeking records from the ODNI signals that the probe is underway and in an information-gathering phase.
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Grand jury investigations are conducted in secret and can take days, weeks or longer to conclude. Prosecutors present the grand jury with evidence, and the panelists on the jury are tasked with deciding whether probable cause exists to charge someone with a crime. Obtaining an indictment against a person through a grand jury is generally much easier than the subsequent process of securing a conviction against them.
Fox News Digital first reported on the existence of a grand jury investigation related to Gabbard’s intelligence on Monday, but it remains unclear whom is being targeted in the investigation or what criminal charges could be on the table and still within the statutes of limitations.
Gabbard has alleged that newly declassified evidence shows that President Barack Obama and his national security officials, including John Brennan, James Comey and James Clapper, had forgone typical protocols to compile a faulty intelligence product after President Donald Trump won the election in 2016 that undermined his election win.
Gabbard alleged that the intelligence laid the “groundwork” for the Trump-Russia narrative that loomed over much of the president’s first administration. Trump’s first presidency was dominated by two-year-long special counsel inquiries surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, but neither special counsel identified a conspiracy among Obama officials like the one Gabbard has now alleged.
The DOJ official’s letter to ODNI this week also included a request for information about any intelligence community investigations into media leaks, signaling that those could also be part of the grand jury probe. Gabbard has claimed the media obtained information through the Obama administration that helped to falsely attribute Trump’s win to Russian interference in the election in the eyes of the public.
Obama recently rejected Gabbard’s allegations through a spokesperson in a rare statement.
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” the statement said. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
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