CIA Sued For Handwritten Docs On Obama Admin Scheme To Smear Trump 

The non-profit public interest law firm Judicial Watch announced in a statement it “filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for former CIA Director John Brennan’s unredacted handwritten notes and related records from White House briefings in 2016 that referenced intelligence regarding a Hillary Clinton campaign plan to link then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Central Intelligence Agency(1:26-cv-01630)).”

“The Russiagate scandal was a politically driven operation. It served as an enormous deflection from Hillary Clinton’s use of a nongovernment email server, which was a serious violation of federal records laws and national security practices,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The American people deserve to know the whole story.”

Judicial Watch reports it sued after the CIA failed to respond to an August 5, 2025, FOIA request for “unredacted notes taken by former CIA Director John Brennan during the August 3, 2016, White House briefing, which reportedly discussed intelligence regarding a Hillary Clinton campaign plan to link Donald Trump to Russia. This includes any unredacted portions of President Obama’s and FBI Director Comey’s responses, which are currently redacted in publicly available versions of the Durham report.”

“In October 2020, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released heavily redacted handwritten notes that revealed details about Brennan’s briefing with then-President Barack Obama about Hillary Clinton’s purported plan to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia as ‘a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server’ ahead of the 2016 presidential election,” Judicial Watch reports.

In one note Brennan writes, “We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from [redacted]. CITE alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on 26 July of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services.”

“According to the May 2023 report by Special Counsel John Durham, a section titled “Receipt of the Clinton Plan intelligence” states that the intelligence community immediately recognized the plan’s relevance to the presidential election. Records from Brennan’s office show he ‘personally received’ the intelligence and reported to Obama in July 2016,” Judicial Watch reports.

Judical Watch notes that “in a section of the report titled ‘White House briefing’ that references Brennan’s handwritten notes, the report states:”

On August 3, 2016, within days of receiving the Clinton Plan intelligence, Director Brennan met with the President, Vice President and other senior Administration officials, including but not limited to the Attorney General (who participated remotely) and the FBI Director, in the White House Situation Room to discuss Russian election interference efforts. According to Brennan’s handwritten notes and his recollections from the meeting, he briefed on relevant intelligence known to date on Russian election interference, including the Clinton Plan intelligence.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.