Obama officials were saying one thing on television and another one in front of congressional investigators. There is a good reason for that. They can’t be sent to prison for lying on television. But they had to justify their actions in Spygate and the Russia collusion hoax. They could not let their fellow coup planners down. After all, the orange man is bad. They thought they were safe because they were sure the Deep State would keep the transcripts hidden.
They weren’t counting on Richard Grenell. Perennial liar Adam Schiff blocked their release until Grenell came forward and told him to release the transcripts or he would. after having his hand forced, Schiff had no choice but to release the transcripts. Those transcripts were very unfavorable to Democrats.
James Clapper. He stated on CNN :
“That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence …[redacted]. But I do not recall any instance when I had direct evidence of the content of these meetings. It’s just the frequency and prevalence of them was of concern.”
When a Republican congressman asked when whether it was reasonable to assume meetings implied collusion, Clapper deflected.
“I really can’t answer it other than the sort of visceral reaction to why all these meetings with the Russians. I think there is a line … between that and violating the principle that in this country we traditionally have one president and one administration at a time.”
Clapper wasn’t alone in testifying to the lack of evidence of collusion. House members asked former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Powers whether she had seen any evidence herself.
“I am not in possession of anything—I am not in possession and didn’t read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community,” she said according to Fox News.
Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice told the same story.
“To the best of my recollection, there wasn’t anything smoking, but there were some things that gave me pause,” she said, “I don’t recall intelligence that I would consider evidence to that effect that I saw … conspiracy prior to my departure.”