All Episodes

July 31, 2025 3 mins
In the latest developments out of Washington, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has emerged as a pivotal figure in the renewed focus on the origins and handling of the 2016 Trump–Russia investigation. Fox News Digital describes Ratcliffe’s signals that new, critical evidence is about to come to light concerning the testimonies of former intelligence officials John Brennan, Hillary Clinton, and James Comey, with the statute of limitations unlikely to shield them from possible prosecution. Ratcliffe emphasized that much of their sworn testimony from the past five years sharply conflicts with the classified intelligence soon to be declassified as part of the John Durham annex. This classified annex, which Ratcliffe is helping to release alongside several other top officials, purportedly reveals intent within some intelligence circles to fast-track the controversial Steele dossier into the community’s official assessments and investigations.

According to a recent CIA report commissioned by Director Ratcliffe, which Matt Taibbi detailed, there was significant pushback within the agency against including the Steele dossier in the official intelligence community assessment of Russian interference back in January 2017. Senior CIA analysts and the Deputy Director for Analysis explicitly warned that relying on the dossier would undermine the assessment’s credibility and open the findings up to politicized scrutiny. Despite these warnings, the dossier, later shown to be funded by the Clinton campaign and debunked, was included at the direction of higher leadership. These revelations echo through the newly surfaced records, with the Department of Justice forming a task force to evaluate potential crimes and emboldening whistleblowers to come forward.

Media outlets including the Washington Examiner note that Ratcliffe, seeing egregious misconduct, made formal referrals for prosecution to the Department of Justice regarding the actions of certain former Obama administration intelligence officials. This reflects a broader push from the Trump administration to revisit the origins and political handling of the investigation into alleged Russian ties.

The declassification process, led in part by Ratcliffe, is being closely watched. With thousands of secret documents and computer hard drives uncovered by the new FBI Director Kash Patel—some hidden even during previous leadership—the focus remains on the crossroads between intelligence methods, procedural integrity, and political outcomes. Ratcliffe’s actions and forthcoming disclosures may decisively shape the accountability and legacy of one of America’s most contentious intelligence controversies.

Thank you for tuning in and remember to subscribe. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

For more http://www.quietplease.ai

Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the latest developments out of Washington, CIA Director John
Ratcliffe has emerged as a pivotal figure in the renewed
focus on the origins and handling of the twenty sixteen
Trump Russia investigation. Fox News Digital describes Ratcliffe signals that
new critical evidence is about to come to light concerning
the testimonies of former intelligence officials John Brinn, Hillary Clinton,

(00:24):
and James Comy, with the statute of limitations unlikely to
shield them from possible prosecution. Ratcliffe emphasized that much of
their swan testimony from the past five years sharply conflicts
with the classified intelligence soon to be declassified as part
of the John Durham Annex. This classified annex, which Ratcliffe

(00:45):
is helping to release alongside several other top officials, Purley,
reveals intent within some intelligence circles to fast track the
controversial Steele dossier into the community's official assessments and investigations.
According to a recent CIA report commissioned by Director Ratcliffe,
which Matt Taibi detailed, there was significant pushback within the

(01:09):
agency against including the Steele dossier in the official intelligence
community assessment of Russian interference. Back in January twenty seventeen
senior CIA analysts and the Deputy Director for Analysis explicitly
warned that relying on the dossier would undermine the assessment's
credibility and open the findings up to politicized scrutiny. Despite

(01:32):
these warnings, the dossier, later shown to be funded by
the Clinton campaign and debunked, was included at the direction
of higher leadership. These revelations echo through the newly surfaced
These revelations echo through the newly surfaced records, with the
Department of Justice forming a task force to evaluate potential
crimes and emboldening whistleblowers to come forward. Media outlets, including

(01:57):
The Washington Examiner, note that Ratcliffe, seeing egregious misconduct, made
formal referrals for prosecution to the Department of Justice regarding
the actions of certain former Obama administration intelligence officials. This
reflects a broader push from the Trump administration to revisit
the origins and political handling of the investigation into alleged

(02:18):
Russian ties. The declassification process, led in part by Ratcliffe,
is being closely watched, with thousands of secret documents and
computer hard drives uncovered by the new FBI director Cash battel,
some hidden even during previous leadership. The focus remains on
the crossroads between intelligence methods, procedural integrity, and political outcomes.

(02:41):
Ratcliffe's actions and forthcoming disclosures may decisively shape the accountability
and legacy of one of America's most contentious intelligence controversies.
Thank you for tuning in and remember to subscribe. This
has been a quiet Please production. For more, check out
Quiet Pleas dot Any
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.