Hillary Clinton approved plan hatched by campaign aides to ‘smear’ Trump with Russia collusion: declassified docs

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton approved a plan hatched by a campaign adviser to “smear” then-candidate Donald Trump with false claims of Russian collusion and distract from her own mounting emails scandal during the 2016 election, according to explosive intelligence files declassified Thursday.

The plan included “raising the theme of ‘Putin’s support for Trump’” and “subsequently steering public opinion toward the notion that it needs to equate” the Russian leader’s political influence campaign with actual interference in election infrastructure.

“Clinton approved a plan proposed by one of her foreign policy advisors, Julianne Smith, to ‘smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by the Russian special services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate,’” one of the declassified memos read.

Special counsel John Durham uncovered the information during a multi-year probe into intelligence activities during the 2016 election.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and other members of the US Intelligence Community declassified the files from Durham’s probe at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.).

“Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means,” Grassley said in a statement.

“These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump,” he added.

“This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency.”

The Post reached out to reps for Clinton and Smith for comment.