CIA Director Gina Haspel is continuing to stonewall top Republican senators, who are demanding that the intelligence chief hand over Russiagate documents they requested more than two months ago.
On Wednesday, Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin ordered Haspel to comply with a series of oversight requests from July pertaining to their review of Crossfire Hurricane, the undercover FBI operation that sought to execute a deep-state coup against President Donald Trump.
“The American people have a right to know the full extent of official action taken by federal officials during the 2016 campaign, the presidential transition, and into the Trump administration,” Grassley and Johnson wrote. “The information that has already been made public reveals what might be the most outrageous abuse of power in U.S. history against a presidential candidate and sitting president. Unfortunately, many of the puzzle pieces remain hidden, and some of that information rests within your agency.”
Grassley and Johnson, who lead the Finance Committee and Governmental Affairs Committees respectively, gave Haspel until Oct. 9 to comply with their requests. Grassley’s office told The Federalist Monday afternoon that the CIA chief has yet to respond to the requests.
Haspel’s continued refusal to cooperate with Senate investigators follows Federalist reporting that the head of the CIA is personally blocking the documents’ release in hopes that President Donald Trump loses in November in order to save her job. Notably, Haspel was also formerly the agency station chief in London under Obama CIA Director John Brennan in 2016 and 2017 while ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele pieced together the Democrat-funded and discredited dossier that became the basis for falsely charging Trump with being a Russian agent.
“Haspel and [FBI Director Christopher] Wray both want Trump to lose, because it’s the only chance they have of keeping their jobs,” a senior intelligence official told Federalist Co-Founder Sean Davis. “They’re banking on Biden winning and keeping them where they are.”
Breaking: CIA Director Gina Haspel Is Blocking Declassification Of Remaining Russigate Documents pic.twitter.com/xSNwqPzdTM
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) October 1, 2020
Haspel had previously emphasized her commitment to working with Congress as head of the government’s premier intelligence agency during her confirmation hearing in 2018:
As both a career intelligence officer and as an American citizen, I am a strong believer in the importance of oversight. Simply put, experience has taught us that CIA cannot be effective without the people’s trust, and we cannot hope to earn that trust without the accountability that comes with Congressional oversight.
…If confirmed as Director, I will uphold the Agency’s obligations to Congress and ensure that oversight works on behalf of the American people.
“Your apparent unwillingness to speak with us on this matter contradicts your testimony,” the senators wrote last week.
