Fox News Provides Update On Obama Russiagate Docs, Probe
Fox News anchor Bret Baier had a strong reaction after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s claims regarding the Obama administration—most notably her allegation that former President Barack Obama engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” against President Donald Trump.
Baier offered more analysis on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department for the whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger President Trump’s 2019 impeachment and for the former intelligence community inspector general who notified Congress of the allegations.
Initially, Gabbard sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department days earlier and accused the Obama administration of trying to “subvert President Trump’s 2016 victory and presidency.”
The referrals follow the release of documents earlier this week by Gabbard, which revealed what was called a “coordinated effort” by members of the intelligence community, including then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, to “manufacture a conspiracy” that served as the foundation for Trump’s 2019 impeachment.
Baier spoke about the massive developments against Obama and members of his administration.
“Well, I look forward to seeing that interview again, Bret. You know, one of the very interesting things here is the different way that Hillary Clinton was treated as opposed to President Trump. She received a defensive briefing. It seems that the highest bar was put in place in terms of any information that could be used against her. It also is revealed in this report that at one point in the process, they were looking at investigating her because they believed that she was sort of throwing all of this stuff about Russia out there, and this dossier out there, in order to cover up for the server investigation. So, at one point, they were looking into that closely; but then there’s this huge steer towards Trump with, according to these documents, a much lower bar that is needed for the credibility of the information that they’re going to corral and throw at him, correct?” Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked.
“Yeah, that’s exactly right. Now, this is the Trump investigation and this is what they’re putting out here. Separately, Chuck Grassley has put out these files on the Hillary Clinton email case — which are really eye-opening, as well — and a lot of it is redacted. But I talked about both of those things with Comey back in 2018. There was a major disparity,” Baier responded.
“And in the middle of this, you have the Page and Strzok, the two lovers at FBI, who are, they come out with these texts of how biased they are against President Trump; and they’re in charge of the investigation, of the interview of Hillary Clinton, of the BleachBit phones, of the interview and scheduling for Michael Flynn — then NSA director. And you see how this all kind of comes in together in a way that is — in hindsight, as you look at the big picture — really troubling. I think — listen, we are one of the only outlets that’s following this in-depth, kind of on the substance, as opposed to, again, a glancing blow; and I think it deserves that kind of coverage,” he added.
An intelligence official told Fox News Digital that the language in the referral is broad, but that it’s specifically directed at Atkinson and the whistleblower who reported concerns about President Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The referrals follow the release of documents earlier this week by DNI Tulsi Gabbard, which revealed what was called a “coordinated effort” by members of the intelligence community, including then-Inspector General Michael Atkinson, to “manufacture a conspiracy” that served as the foundation for Trump’s 2019 impeachment.
The referral is specifically aimed at Atkinson and the whistleblower who raised concerns about President Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to an intelligence official who spoke with Fox News.
Transcripts of Atkinson’s closed-door testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which were withheld from the House Judiciary Committee during the initial impeachment trial, are among the documents Gabbard made public earlier this week.
In March, Rick Crawford, a Republican from Arkansas who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, led a vote to make the transcripts public.
ODNI said the documents confirmed that Atkinson “failed to conduct basic due diligence and willfully exceeded his statutory jurisdiction to mischaracterize the president’s phone call with Zelenskyy as an ‘urgent concern’ to Congress.”
Atkinson, during his investigation, found that the whistleblower showed indications of “political bias” and was “in favor of a rival political candidate,” while still deeming the complaint a matter of “urgent concern.”
The whistleblower complained to Atkinson in August 2019 about Trump’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July 2019 and urged him to look into the Biden family’s activities and business dealings in Ukraine.
The president specifically recommended that Zelensky investigate former President Joe Biden’s successful attempt to remove former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, as well as Hunter Biden’s activities with the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings.
At the time of the call, Hunter Biden was secretly the subject of a federal investigation that started in 2018 due to questionable foreign transactions.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and Hunter had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars a month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
“I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recounted the conversation during a Council on Foreign Relations event in 2018.
“Well, son of a b—-, he got fired,” Biden said during the event. “And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.”
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"My Husband Blamed Me for Eleven Years of Childlessness—Then Three Children Walked Into His Wedding
After eleven years of blaming me for our childlessness, my husband left me for a younger woman and threw me out of our home. He said he deserved a woman who could give him a family. What he didn’t know was that I had found out I was pregnant that very morning—and years later, three children would walk into his wedding and turn his perfect celebration into the worst day of his life.
“My suitcase is outside, Mariana. You’re no longer welcome in this house.”
I stood frozen at the gate of our Beverly Hills estate.
One trembling hand rested on my stomach.
The other held a white envelope.
Inside were divorce papers.
My house keys had been placed neatly on top of my packed suitcase, as if Ryan Montgomery had decided my entire life could be reduced to luggage and legal paperwork.
Laughter drifted from inside the house.
Not awkward laughter.
Not surprised laughter.
The confident laughter of people who believed they had already won.
Through the open doorway, I saw my husband sitting on the sofa I had chosen years earlier. Beside him sat Vanessa Carter.
Young.
Beautiful.
Perfectly dressed.
A glass of wine rested in her hand like she had always belonged there.
Nearby stood my mother-in-law, Rebecca Montgomery, wearing her usual pearls and the superior expression I knew too well.
For years, Rebecca had cut me apart with soft little comments at dinners and family holidays.
“A marriage without children feels incomplete, dear.”
“A woman who can’t become a mother is missing the most important part of herself.”
Every sentence landed exactly where she aimed it.
For more than ten years, I endured fertility treatments, specialist appointments, painful injections, costly procedures, and sleepless nights filled with prayers.
Every negative test broke me a little more.
And with every disappointment, Ryan drifted further away.
Until eventually, he stopped trying altogether.
What none of them knew was that seven weeks earlier, a new doctor had finally found the truth.
After years of wrong diagnoses, I learned I had severe endometriosis that had gone untreated.
The infertility had never been my fault.
Not once.
After surgery and proper medical care, something happened that I had been told might never happen.
That very morning, I found out I was pregnant.
I had rushed home with the happiest news of my life, imagining Ryan’s face when I told him we were finally going to become parents.
Instead, I found my belongings packed.
Divorce papers waiting.
And another woman sitting in my place.
Rebecca stepped forward with a smug smile.
“Don’t make this difficult, Mariana. Ryan deserves a woman who can give him a family. We’ve sacrificed enough.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
For one moment, I almost told them.
I almost pulled the pregnancy test from my purse and showed them that a baby was already growing inside me.
I wanted to watch their confidence collapse.
But then I looked at Ryan.
He could not even meet my eyes.
He did not stand.
He did not apologize.
He did not ask if I was okay.
So I quietly picked up my suitcase and walked down the driveway.
My pregnancy was still invisible.
But the betrayal felt impossible to hide.
I wandered until I stopped beside a parked black SUV. In the tinted window, I saw a woman I barely recognized.
Pregnant.
Heartbroken.
Alone.
Then the driver’s window slowly lowered.
An older man in an expensive gray suit stared at me as if he had seen a ghost.
“My dear,” he said softly. “Why are you crying?”
His name was Alexander Whitmore.
I did not know it then, but he had been my late mother’s closest friend. He had searched for her daughter for years after a family scandal buried my identity and stole my inheritance.
That day, he didn’t just give me a ride.
He gave me back my name.
Three years later, Ryan stood in a flower-filled ballroom, ready to marry Vanessa in front of every wealthy family in Los Angeles.
Then the doors opened.
My three children walked in first.
Two little boys with Ryan’s eyes.
And a little girl holding my hand.
The room went silent.
Ryan turned pale.
Rebecca gripped her pearls.
Vanessa whispered, “Who are they?”
I looked at the man who once threw me out for being childless.
Then my son pointed at him and asked, “Mommy, is that the man who didn’t want us?”
The little girl looked up innocently.
"Mom, is this the terrible man you were talking about?"
A ripple of shock swept through the ballroom.
Every guest turned toward the child.
Ryan's face drained of color.
Rebecca nearly dropped her champagne glass.
I smiled softly and brushed a strand of hair from my daughter's face.
"Yes, sweetheart," I said gently. "That's him."
The room became deathly silent.
Then I looked directly at Ryan.
The man who had abandoned me.
The man who had signed divorce papers while I was carrying his children.
The man who had chosen another woman before even hearing the truth.
"Look carefully," I said calmly.
I rested my hands on my children's shoulders.
"I already have children."
Ryan stared at the three little faces.
The two boys had his eyes.
His smile.
His exact expression when they were confused.
Even strangers could see the resemblance.
I continued.
"So if I was supposedly the problem..."
My eyes shifted toward Vanessa.
"...then whose child is it that you and she have?"
Vanessa's smile vanished.
Several guests exchanged confused looks.
Rebecca immediately stepped forward.
"How dare you interrupt this wedding?"
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because after years of pain, the irony was almost unbelievable.
"No, Rebecca."
I slowly shook my head.
"For ten years you blamed me."
"For ten years you told everyone I couldn't give Ryan a family."
"For ten years you convinced your son that I was broken."
The guests were listening now.
Every single one.
"And yet here stand my three healthy children."
The silence became heavier.
Vanessa suddenly grabbed Ryan's arm.
"Ryan, what is she talking about?"
Ryan couldn't answer.
Because he was staring at the boys.
The older twin looked exactly like Ryan at that age.
It was almost frightening.
Then Alexander Whitmore stepped forward.
The wealthy businessman was known by almost everyone in the room.
Conversations stopped instantly.
His reputation alone commanded attention.
Alexander adjusted his suit jacket and looked toward the wedding guests.
"I believe everyone deserves the truth."
Ryan's head snapped toward him.
Alexander opened a leather folder.
"I hired investigators three years ago."
Rebecca's confidence finally cracked.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
Alexander ignored her.
"The medical records were reviewed."
The room grew quiet.
Very quiet.
Ryan swallowed hard.
"What records?"
Alexander looked directly at him.
"The fertility records."
Vanessa slowly released Ryan's arm.
"What fertility records?"
I watched the realization begin to spread.
Like a storm moving across the ocean.
Alexander continued.
"Years ago, multiple doctors informed Mariana that she was responsible for the fertility difficulties."
"However, those reports were incomplete."
Ryan's breathing became uneven.
Alexander removed several documents.
"After her surgery, Mariana conceived naturally almost immediately."
The guests murmured.
"But that's not the important part."
His voice hardened.
"The important part is that Ryan's own fertility evaluation was never disclosed to him."
Ryan looked stunned.
"What?"
Alexander handed him a document.
"You were tested."
Ryan stared at the pages.
Then his face turned white.
His hands started shaking.
"No."
Vanessa grabbed the papers.
Seconds later she looked just as shocked.
The report clearly stated that Ryan's fertility issues had been significant long before the divorce.
Long before Mariana became pregnant.
Long before Vanessa entered the picture.
The room exploded with whispers.
Rebecca stumbled backward into a chair.
"That's impossible."
"No," Alexander replied coldly.
"What's impossible is the lie you've protected for over a decade."
I watched Rebecca carefully.
Because I already knew.
I had known for months.
The investigators had discovered everything.
Rebecca had received the original medical results years ago.
Before Ryan ever saw them.
Before I saw them.
She had hidden them.
Destroyed copies.
Changed appointments.
Manipulated conversations.
Anything necessary to preserve her belief that her son could never be the problem.
Her voice trembled.
"I was protecting him."
The guests gasped.
Ryan looked at his mother as though he had never seen her before.
"You knew?"
Rebecca began crying.
"I couldn't let him think something was wrong with him."
The words hit Ryan harder than anything else.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
The accusations.
The pressure.
The endless blame placed on me.
The divorce.
The years lost.
All because his mother couldn't accept reality.
Vanessa stepped backward.
Then another step.
Then another.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
Her face had gone pale.
Very pale.
She looked terrified.
"Ryan..."
His eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Vanessa began trembling.
Rebecca looked confused.
Then afraid.
Very afraid.
"Vanessa?" Ryan asked.
The young woman burst into tears.
The entire ballroom froze.
"There isn't a baby."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ryan blinked.
"What?"
"The pregnancy..."
She covered her face.
"I lied."
Several guests gasped.
One woman actually dropped her fork.
Vanessa collapsed into a chair sobbing.
"There was never a baby."
Ryan stood motionless.
The world seemed to stop around him.
"The tests were fake."
Rebecca looked horrified.
"You told us you were pregnant."
"I know."
"You showed us ultrasounds."
Vanessa cried harder.
"They weren't mine."
The truth crashed through the room like an earthquake.
Ryan looked ready to collapse.
The marriage.
The engagement.
The relationship.
Everything had been built on lies.
And in that moment he finally understood what he had destroyed.
Not his future.
Not his reputation.
His family.
The family standing in front of him.
Three beautiful children.
The woman he once loved.
The life he could have had.
My oldest son tugged gently on my hand.
"Mom?"
I looked down.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can we go now?"
I smiled.
"Yes."
Ryan stepped forward.
"Mariana, please."
For a second, I saw genuine regret.
The kind that arrives years too late.
"I didn't know."
His voice broke.
"I know."
Tears filled his eyes.
"Can you ever forgive me?"
I looked at my children.
Then at Alexander.
Then back at Ryan.
Forgiveness and trust are not the same thing.
And some wounds leave permanent scars.
"I forgave you a long time ago."
Hope appeared in his eyes.
Then I finished.
"But forgiveness doesn't mean I come back."
The hope disappeared.
I took my daughter's hand.
The boys followed beside me.
As we walked toward the doors, nobody tried to stop us.
The guests moved aside.
Quietly.
Respectfully.
Outside, sunlight filled the courtyard.
My children laughed as they raced toward the waiting car.
Their voices carried through the air.
Bright.
Happy.
Free.
I paused before getting inside.
Behind me, through the ballroom windows, I could see Ryan standing alone among the ruins of everything he thought he wanted.
For years, he believed I was the reason he didn't have a family.
Now he finally knew the truth.
I had been his family all along.
And he had thrown it away.
The limousine door closed.
My children settled beside me.
Alexander smiled.
"Ready to go home?"
I looked at the three little faces that had saved my life.
Then I smiled.
For the first time in years.
"Yes."
And as the car pulled away, I didn't look back.
Because sometimes the happiest ending isn't getting revenge.
It's realizing that the life you built after heartbreak turned out to be more beautiful than anything you lost.
