{"id":2469505,"date":"2025-08-01T08:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durham-annex-shows-how-press-tried-to-save-hillary-in-2016\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:13:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:13:28","slug":"durham-annex-shows-how-press-tried-to-save-hillary-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durham-annex-shows-how-press-tried-to-save-hillary-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham Annex Shows How Press Tried To Save Hillary In 2016\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdurham-annex-shows-how-press-tried-to-save-hillary-in-2016%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2469505&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Teh summary outlines how the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign allegedly orchestrated a propaganda effort to discredit Donald Trump by promoting the false narrative that he colluded with Russia. This strategy emerged amid Clinton&#8217;s campaign struggles,including the fallout from leaked Democratic National Committee emails revealing efforts to undermine Bernie Sanders.The Durham Annex, a declassified document released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, reveals that clinton&#8217;s team, including foreign policy advisor Julianne Smith, approved a plan to amplify allegations of Russian interference to divert attention from Clinton&#8217;s own email controversies. Through connections with left-leaning think tanks like the Center for New American Security, the campaign&#8217;s messaging was effectively disseminated to the media. The propaganda press then widely circulated this narrative just before the Democratic National Convention, with prominent coverage in outlets like Slate, The New York Times, and others. This coordinated media effort fueled the ongoing &#8220;Russia collusion&#8221; story, which continued to influence political discourse and investigations long after the 2016 election. The summary also notes that despite revelations in the Durham Annex, many in the media remain resistant to reconsidering their initial coverage.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Every parasite needs a host. Ticks need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petmd.com\/dog\/general-health\/8-types-ticks-dogs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dogs<\/a>, tapeworms need fat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/articles\/the-horrifying-legacy-of-the-victorian-tapeworm-diet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Victorian<\/a> chicks, and Democrats need the propaganda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/07\/31\/durham-report-declassified-trump-clinton-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The clues for how the propaganda machine was set in motion to benefit Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s scandal-ridden 2016 campaign are found in the declassified &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Durham Annex<\/a>,&rdquo; released to the public Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/news\/news-releases\/published07312025icymi-grassley-joins-americas-newsroom-to-discuss-his-release-of-the-durham-annex\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chairman<\/a> Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.<\/p>\n<p>The formula for selling the public on a campaign lie &mdash; in this case, that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to harm Clinton&rsquo;s campaign &mdash; is simple. First, there must be a reason to change the current narrative; second, the messaging must generate interest; and third, the media and the candidate must repeat it with conviction.<\/p>\n<h2>The Motivation<\/h2>\n<p>Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s campaign for president was a desperate mess by July 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats received a black eye when the public learned that&nbsp;leaked, internal emails of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) revealed the party &ldquo;plotted to destroy Bernie Sanders&rsquo; presidential ambitions in favor of their preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton,&rdquo; as the Federalist&rsquo;s Margot Cleveland previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/06\/exclusive-spygate-researchers-believed-democratic-firm-relied-on-spoofed-data-to-claim-russians-hacked-dnc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It was an embarrassment for Clinton (because it looked like cheating) and the DNC (Because it is supposed to be neutral toward candidates.)<\/p>\n<p>The DNC commissioned a report on the incident from a cyber security company, CrowdStrike, which concluded the DNC&rsquo;s email was hacked by the Russians.  <\/p>\n<p>Then on July 5, former FBI Director James Comey released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/press-releases\/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">damaging information<\/a> about Clinton using a personal email server in her home while she was secretary of state. With it, Clinton mishandled classified, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kasich-january-6-is-one-of-the-darkest-moments-in-our-history\/\" title=\"Kasich: &#039;January 6 Is One of the Darkest Moments in Our History&#039;\">top secret information<\/a>, Comey said in an astonishing press conference where he also announced he would <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/21\/comey-fbi-sandbagged-clinton-email-investigation-by-skipping-basic-steps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not charge<\/a> Clinton for the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >major national security breach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\">Durham Annex<\/a> shows that President Barack Obama, DNC leadership, and Clinton were all looking for a way to change the narrative.<\/p>\n<h2>The Messaging <\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Durham Annex<\/a> references a memo in which Julianne Smith, one of Clinton&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-teams-naive-confidence-in-taliban-led-to-catastrophic-withdrawal-former-cia-official-says\/\" title=\"Biden Team\u2019s \u2018Na\u00efve Confidence\u2019 In Taliban Led To Catastrophic Withdrawal, Former CIA Official Says\">foreign policy advisors<\/a>, said Clinton approved a plan to &ldquo;smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal by the Russian special services&hellip;&rdquo; Essentially, they planned to say the Russians wanted to help Trump win, hoping this story would allow Democrats to &ldquo;divert the constituents&rsquo; attention from the investigation of Clinton&rsquo;s compromised electronic correspondence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>At this time (July 2016), Julianne Smith also worked at the Center for New American Security (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/people?group=writer-in-residence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNAS<\/a>) a wealthy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-a-new-american-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-leaning<\/a> think tank with a stable of high profile writers in residence, including from the Washington Post and the New York Times. With in-house relationships like that, it must be easy to move concepts such as the Clinton-approved Trump smear from idea to news flow. Perhaps that is what happened. Somehow, around this time, the propaganda press was flooded with the very spin Smith allegedly envisioned, and Clinton approved.<\/p>\n<p>The memo is mentioned in two emails dated July 25 and July 27 from Leonard Benardo, who was Regional Director for Eurasia at Open Society Foundation, the well-known, far left foundation founded by George Soros that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensocietyfoundations.org\/how-we-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funds<\/a> like-minded nonprofits. Benardo was overseeing efforts relating to Russia in 2016. Due to redactions, it is not clear who the emails were sent to, but journalists might view the similarly worded emails as propaganda pitches which are used to convince reporters to write about an issue, although the emails could also be analysis of news coverage and political predictions. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The Media<\/h2>\n<p>While the Clinton camp was thinking about messaging, an unnamed Clinton foreign policy advisor noticed Franklin Foer&rsquo;s July 4, 2016, hit piece in Slate calling Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/news_and_politics\/cover_story\/2016\/07\/vladimir_putin_has_a_plan_for_destroying_the_west_and_it_looks_a_lot_like.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Putin&rsquo;s puppet<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Durham Annex<\/a> indicated. On July 5, the advisor praised Foer&rsquo;s piece in an email, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking for ways to build on Franklin Foer&rsquo;s great (and scary) Piece on Trump and Russia.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Foer put out another Slate <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2016\/07\/trump-and-putin-the-real-winner-of-the-rnc-is-the-kremlin.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piece<\/a> July 21, 2016, promoting the concept of a closeness between Trump and Putin.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic National Convention happened around the same time, July 25-28. Clinton gave her acceptance speech on the last night. As if by magic, the Sunday before the convention the propaganda press was suddenly producing perfectly timed stories with the very propaganda Clinton approved.<\/p>\n<p>Politico&rsquo;s Jeremy Herb <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/07\/robby-mook-russians-emails-trump-226084\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> that Clinton&rsquo;s campaign manager Robby Mook said on CNN&rsquo;s <em>State of the Union<\/em> that Russia leaked the DNC&rsquo;s email to help Trump. Jessie Hellmann had the same <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/ballot-box\/presidential-races\/288998-clinton-campaign-manager-dnc-needs-to-get-to-bottom-of\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">storyline<\/a> for The Hill, and the coverage spirals from there.<\/p>\n<p>Either Vice got advance propaganda to prepare a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/all-signs-point-to-russia-being-behind-the-dnc-hack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complicated Trump hit-piece<\/a> and pull the trigger on it at midnight, July 25, or writer Thomas Rid and some poor editor worked very hard on Sunday to get precisely the right message out on the first day of the DNC. It is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/outrage-in-germany-resignation-in-kunduz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worth<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/le-ratissage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noting<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/reports\/the-razors-edge-liberalizing-the-digital-surveillance-ecosystem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rid<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/free-speech-for-officers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">who<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/gallieni-galula-petraeus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked<\/a> at &nbsp;King&rsquo;s College London at that time, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/symbolic-military-operational-civilian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">connections<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/the-dynamics-of-political-weapons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/publications\/blog\/rid-and-exum-at-sais-rsvp-now\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNAS<\/a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By July 27, The New York Times was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/07\/28\/us\/politics\/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">twisting<\/a> Trump&rsquo;s campaign joke into sinister proof that Trump is &ldquo;urging a foreign adversary to conduct cyberespionage,&rdquo; against Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Russia, if you&rsquo;re listening, I hope you&rsquo;re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,&rdquo; Trump had said. But the humorless New York Times managed to stay on the Clinton-approved messaging that Trump was friendly with Russia. <\/p>\n<p>Clinton reinforced the narrative again in the Sept. 27 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/09\/full-transcript-first-2016-presidential-debate-228761\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">debate<\/a>, ridiculously bluffing that she was &ldquo;so shocked when Donald publicly invited Putin to hack into Americans [computers].&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This Russia collusion hoax material shows how international propaganda, crafted by the Clinton campaign, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/28\/details-buried-in-recently-declassified-docs-further-implicate-obama-in-russia-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nursed by Obama<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/25\/flashback-see-how-the-media-spread-russian-hoax-lies-as-obama-intel-agencies-created-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fed to the press<\/a>, set in motion years of consequences.<\/p>\n<p>And it is not over. The press that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/31\/us\/politics\/trump-clinton-emails-russia-investigation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lied<\/a> to you is not about to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/07\/31\/durham-report-declassified-trump-clinton-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">back off<\/a> based on information in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Durham Annex<\/a>. Instead it is in denial or looking for a new spin.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lara-logan-challenges-media-to-ask-certain-questions-about-afghanistan\/\" title=\"Lara Logan Challenges Media To Ask Certain Questions About Afghanistan\">award-winning investigative journalist<\/a> with decades of media experience.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parasites need hosts; Democrats rely on propaganda press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":2469506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HRC-Thumbs-Up.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33169,60402,32624,60403],"class_list":["post-2469505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-2016-election","tag-durham-annex","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-press-bias"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HRC-Thumbs-Up.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2469505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2469509,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469505\/revisions\/2469509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2469506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2469505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2469505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2469505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}