Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., has asked that the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to request billionaire Democrat donor George Soros and an associate to testify regarding declassified documents that allegedly tie them to the 2016 Russiagate scandal.
The declassified 29-page annex to special counsel John Durham's 2023 report, released Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, alleged that Hillary Clinton’s campaign, with help from a figure linked to Soros’ Open Society Foundations, created the narrative of Russian interference to damage Trump politically. Documents released last month by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard alleged that top members of the Obama administration, including Barack Obama, were in on the scheme.
An email allegedly written by Leonard Benardo, senior vice president of the Open Society Foundations, showed him “plotting to discredit the incoming Trump Administration,” Burchett wrote to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., in a letter posted on social media.
“Considering the Open Society Foundations’ continued influence on U.S. elections, I respectfully request you invite Mr. Soros and Mr. Benardo to testify in a public hearing before the Committee,” Burchett wrote.
The Benardo email, dated July 27, 2016, alleged that Clinton approved a campaign proposal by her foreign policy adviser Julianne Smith to tie Trump to Russia to distract the public from her email scandal. Durham concluded the emails “that purport to be from Benardo were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based think tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others.”
The Durham annex concluded, “It is a logical deduction [redacted] Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign’s efforts to tie Trump to Russia,” and that the communications it reviewed “certainly lends at least some credence that such a plan existed.”
If Soros and Benardo don’t accept the invitation to testify, Burchett implored Comer to subpoena them.
"Should they refuse the invitation, I encourage you to use subpoena powers,” Burchett wrote. “Americans deserve answers into the subversion of our institutions by malicious actors.”
A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations said in a statement to Newsmax that any connection to the alleged conspiracy is "an outrageous falsehood."
"The claim that the Open Society Foundations helped orchestrate an FBI investigation is an outrageous falsehood," spokesperson said. "It is grounded in malicious disinformation traced to Russian intelligence and now weaponized as part of a politically motivated campaign to attack our leadership and our work to promote human rights.
"The Durham report found no wrongdoing by our staff. We are a nonpartisan organization and do not engage in political campaign activity. These accusations are not just reckless, they are dangerous. They reflect a broader effort to foment hostility and undermine civil society — and they are calculated to distract from real scandals."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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