CIA Director John Ratcliffe suggested that statute of limitations protection would not affect the Trump administration in their effort to prosecute those involved in investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ratcliffe claimed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former CIA director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper could be prosecuted for their role, claiming that they were still involved in a criminal conspiracy against Trump.
He said there was “no doubt in my mind” that Clinton, Brennan, and Clapper “conspired.”
“They conspired against President Trump, they conspired against the American people. So, I’ll leave it to Pam Bondi and our DOJ and Kash Patel and our FBI to investigate the conspiracy to do what, and what charges that they’re capable of bringing,” Ratcliffe said on Fox News.
“I don’t think statute of limitations are going to impact, because in a conspiracy, Maria, the statute of limitations doesn’t start to run until the last act in the furtherance of that conspiracy,” Ratcliffe said. “Part of why this is so important is that the people behind this are still furthering the conspiracy.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents earlier this month that she claimed provided evidence that the Obama administration’s intelligence officials “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork” for the FBI’s later investigation into Russian ties to President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Gabbard has said she has “the evidence” to prosecute Obama administration officials and that she was referring to documents from Obama administration officials to the Justice Department in a “criminal matter.”
The recently declassified documents prove that Obama and top White House officials at the time directed investigators to advance narratives tying Trump to Russia with little evidence, according to Gabbard.
Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report found the FBI’s handling of the probe into Trump’s ties to Russia was “seriously deficient” in spots.
SENATORS STAND BY 2016 RUSSIA ELECTION MEDDLING REPORT DESPITE GABBARD’S CLAIMS
Some Senators are standing by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s 2020 findings of Russian collusion in the 2016 election. At the time the report was released, then-committee Chairman Marco Rubio said “then-candidate Trump was not complicit” in the collusion.
Democrats have additionally criticized Gabbard’s release and prosecution suggestion. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called Gabbard’s threat to refer Obama administration officials to federal law enforcement for prosecution “dangerous” and said there was “absolutely” no legal basis for their prosecution.