Ever since CIA Director John Ratcliffe issued a CIA report (styled as a "CIA Note: Tradecraft Review of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Election Interference"), we've seen signs that the dam of hidden corruption regarding the Russia Collusion hoax was beginning to break. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has since issued several document disclosures related to the topic. And Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released the Department of Justice Inspector General Appendix regarding the FBI's "Midyear Exam" investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails leading up to the 2016 election.
READ MORE: New: CIA Assessment Reveals How Far Obama Administration Went to Frame Trump, Implicates Officials
There's a lot to review and digest. But many have been anxiously awaiting the rumored drop of the "Durham Annex," an appendix to former Special Counsel John Durham's report. And now, the annex has landed. It's 29 pages and we're continuing to pour through it, but the real kicker appears to be ties to George Soros' Open Society Foundation.
The credible foreign sources indicating the FBI and the Obama administration would play a role in spreading the salacious Trump-Russia narrative — before the bureau ever launched its probe — were tied to George Soros' Open Society Foundation, according to an explosive document declassified Thursday morning.
...
A source familiar with the contents of the classified appendix told Fox News Digital that while it may not have been exactly clear in the moment what the intelligence collection meant, with the benefit of hindsight, it predicted the FBI’s next move "with alarming specificity."
The appendix reveals that the foreign sources were allegedly tied to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
The appendix said that Russian government actors in 2016 hacked emails from the Open Society Foundations, formerly known as the Soros Foundation.
"Two of the apparently hacked emails appear to have originated from the Open Society Foundations," the appendix states, noting that the purported author of these emails was Leonard Bernardo, who was the regional director for Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations.
But wait — there's more. And it points to what was really going on here:
"During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…technical structures… in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications," Bernardo reportedly wrote in an email, per the appendix.
"The media analysis on the DNC hacking appears solid…. Julie (Clinton Campaign Advisor) says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce," Bernardo wrote, per the appendix. "Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire."
Another email reportedly from Bernardo states: "HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) approved Julie’s idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections."
"This should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level," Bernardo continues. "The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue. Say something like a critical infrastructure threat for the election to feel manic since both POTUS and VPOTUS have acknowledge the fact IC would speed up searching for evidence that is regrettably still unavailable."
And wouldn't you know it? Crossfire Hurricane — the investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign — was opened just a few short days later.
Of course, none of this comes as a complete shock to those who have been following along with appropriate skepticism for years. Still, seeing the documented corroboration of what has long been suspected is gratifying. And, of course, this leads to the obvious question as to what exactly will be done with this information and whether there will be — finally — some accountability for those who engaged in this nasty scheme.
As noted, there's a significant volume of information to sort through, so this is a developing story, and RedState will continue to follow it and provide updates as warranted.