Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said Sunday that the clock began “ticking” on a potential case being brought against former Obama intelligence officials for obstruction the moment “deliberately concealed evidence” was discovered by the Trump administration.
The Russia investigation, which alleged President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to sway the election in his favor, received new scrutiny in July after the FBI reportedly placed former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan under criminal investigation. With allegations and new intelligence surfacing about how Comey, Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper played a role in targeting the Trump campaign, Jarrett was asked by “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo if he believed the Department of Justice (DOJ) “will act” and whether “the statute of limitations apply to conspiracy or not.” (RELATED: Obama White House Prevented Trump From Seeing Intel Briefings After Victory, Docs Show)
“I would say yes to all three. This does look like a broad criminal conspiracy by unscrupulous officials, dishonest people. I would look at conspiracy to defraud the government, deprivation of rights under color of law, but importantly, obstruction of justice and the cover up,” Jarrett said. “The elaborate cover up has been going on for years, as Stephen Miller pointed out, which extends the statute of limitations in any conspiracy case against malign actors. That’s because the clock begins ticking when deliberately concealed evidence is discovered, which is actually quite recently.”
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“So, for example, you were talking about the burn bags that were discovered incriminating documents hidden at the FBI, as well as other records, hard drives squirreled away under lock and key by Comey recently found,” Jarrett added. “So attempting to conceal or destroy evidence relevant to investigations, that’s obstruction. The last overt act in a conspiracy starts the clock anew. So that’s the value of bringing a conspiracy case that includes obstruction.”
Fox News Digital first reported on July 8 that Brennan and Comey had been placed under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing regarding the infamous Steele dossier, which has been widely discredited.
The reported investigation came after CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified a “lessons learned” review of the creation of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), revealing Brennan’s push to include the Steele dossier in the 2017 ICA despite warnings.
Following the reports, DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassified a file of documents regarding the Russia investigation on July 18, further alleging how the former Obama intelligence officials used the Russia case against Trump during his first administration.
Bartiromo then went on to ask Jarrett when he believes the DOJ could act against the former officials.
“I think they still need to accumulate all of the relevant evidence, much of which is probably pretty incriminating,” Jarrett continued. “But I wouldn’t be worrying about the clock right now. I’d be concerned about gathering all of the credible, reliable evidence to present to a grand jury.”
A report on Wednesday additionally found that FBI Director Kash Patel had allegedly uncovered “burn bags” containing thousands of documents tied to discrediting the Russia case. According to Fox News, one of the items allegedly recovered was a classified annex to special counsel John Durham’s final report, which was expected to contain evidence suggesting how the FBI played a role in advancing the Russia collusion narrative.
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