The Time Los Angeles Detectives Trapped Wyatt Earp Perpetrating A Swindle 1911

During his last years, it's said that Wyatt Earp tried hard to counteract the newspaper accounts that rightly painted him as a notorious bad man and con artist. I'm sure it wasn't easy since he was in the news a lot after he was found to be the linchpin in the swindle that was the fixed fight in 1896. It was his role as the crooked referee, as someone who could be bought, that made him the key ingredient to carrying out what turned out to be the biggest sports scandal of the 1800s -- the fixed Fitzsimmons-Sharkey Championship Boxing Match in San Francisco. 

When he was found out to be the key player in that swindle, the press researched his past and went after his lack of credibility. The big city newspapers were not like the small-town Tombstone Epitaph, which supported him while running biased articles to cover for his crimes. The syndicated press out of San Francisco went after him because they found him to be a fraud with a criminal past. And yes, as you can see below, even at the age of 63, every time Wyatt Earp did something newsworthy, he was in the newspapers.

 
The Los Angeles Herald published July 22, 1911:

DETECTIVES TRAP WYATT EARP

Attempted Swindle of Realty Dealer in Faro Game Leads to Arrest 

THREE HELD WITHOUT BAIL 

J. Y. Peterson Tells Police of Plan to Get His Money at New Auditorium Hotel

Wyatt Earp, noted western "gun man" and survivor of the famous Earp-Clanton feud of early Arizona days, who acted as referee at the Sharkey-Fitzsimmons prize fight and is well known locally as a follower of sporting events, was Jailed last night, with Walter Scott and E. Dunn, on a charge of attempting to "bunco” J. Y. Peterson, a real estate dealer. 

In a "fake” faro bank game, Peterson, who has offices at the 407 Stimson building. Instead of proving an easy victim, notified the police when the supposed "sure thing” was first broached to him by Earp and Scott last Thursday, with the result that the trio of alleged sharpers last night walked into a well-laid trap.

Detectives Browning, Burgess, and LaNeice making the arrests. 

Earp, who, since race track gambling became a dead letter in California, is alleged to have devoted his time to fleecing the unwary in card games here, conceived the plot. It is declared, and with Scott and Dunn decided on Peterson as a likely victim. 

Earp and Scott are alleged to have approached Peterson last Thursday morning and informed him of a scheme whereby it was represented the realty broker could reap benefits calculated to arouse his cupidity. 

The old story of the hard-working and downtrodden "underdog” was told to Peterson, he said. Scott and Earp told him that they were working for the proprietor of the San Francisco club, which is supposed to be conducting faro games in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They said, according to Peterson, that they were receiving only $l0 a day apiece and felt they were being discriminated against by their employer. 

They said they had been referred to Peterson as a sensible man by a man named Jack Roberts of Madera. According to Peterson, the two men proposed that Peterson be taught the tricks in the game of faro and various marked card systems, and that he enter a game to "break the bank.” It was agreed that Peterson was to bring $2,500 in currency to the rendezvous to exchange for chips with which to enter the faro game. In return, Peterson was to be allowed to win $4,000 from the bank, which he was to divide with the three dealers later. 

When the two men departed, Peterson started for the office of Chief of Police Sebastian, to whom he related the story of the intended swindling game. As had been earlier agreed, Peterson called at 11 o'clock Thursday morning at rooms 425 and 426, New Auditorium Hotel, to go through a rehearsal so he would be able to carry out his part in the game of "breaking the bank.” 

It was explained that all cards to come from the faro box would be marked with a pin punch through the center spot. In this way, the dealer would be able to tell the denomination of the card beneath the one exposed. If the card beneath was odd, it would show red or black through the pin hole. If even, it would show white. 

All this was rehearsed on Thursday and again at 11 o'clock yesterday morning. In the meantime, the police were preparing for a raid. To make doubly sure. It was agreed that the dealer would put two fingers on the table if the coming card would be odd and one if it would be even. 

Peterson was told that the faro bank had $40,000 in it, and that any time he wanted to gather in some "easy money,” he could beat the game and divide with the dealers. It was to be a continuous performance. 

Peterson was asked if he could meet Scott at the Alexandria hotel at 7 o'clock last night. He replied he was going to a beach for the day and would not be back until 8 o'clock, so it was agreed that they would meet at that hour. 

The engagement was kept, and Scott and Peterson left the Alexandria hotel shortly after 8 o'clock. All the while, Scott looked apprehensively over his shoulder and urged Peterson to go through the Hayward hotel on a detour to make sure no one followed. After several roundabout walks, the two came to Central Park and, passing in plain sight of the three waiting detectives, walked through the park and toward the hotel. 

"Where are all the boys?” asked Peterson. "Oh, this is Friday, and most of the players are not here yet,” replied Earp. 

On the pretense of waiting for the other players to arrive and, showing a reluctance to play without them, Peterson delayed action for about twenty minutes to give the detectives time to arrive. Then, with the remark that he would rather stake his roll when more were in the game, he walked to the door. Earp unlocked the door, and the detectives walked in, seized the three alleged sharpers, and confiscated the paraphernalia. The three were then taken to the central police station and held without bail. Complaints will be filed against them today.

The Enterprise (Riverside) published July 23, 1911:

__________________________

Try Tinhorn 

As Plain Vag Faro Crook Gets Off Easy In Angel City Because Sucker Didn’t Dig 

Story by Associated Press to The Enterprise.

LOS ANGELES, July 22. — Wyatt Earp, the sporting man who was arrested last night for an alleged attempt to fleece J. Y. Peterson, a realty broker, in a fake faro game, will be prosecuted on the charge of vagrancy. The charge was reduced because no money had passed hands when he was arrested. Earp has been released on $500 bail.

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The Los Angeles Herald published on July 26, 1911:

WYATT EARP GIVES BAIL IN ‘BUNKO GAME' CASES

Wyatt Earp, notorious Arizona “Gun man” and once a follower of the racing game in this city, was arraigned yesterday on a second charge originating in the alleged bunko game in which he, Walter Scott, and W. Dean are alleged to have tried to fleece J. Y. Peterson, a real estate man, out of $2500. 

Dean and Scott were also arraigned. The second complaint issued against the men charges conspiracy to defraud on the part of the three alleged bunko men. Earp was released on both charges on $500 bonds. 

Shortly after he gained his liberty, Scott and Dean managed to raise the $1,000 bonds each and were also allowed to go. The cases of vagrancy probably will be dismissed, but it is likely that the conspiracy charge will he prosecuted. This charge, however, does not take the cases out of police court jurisdiction. 

Police Judge Hose is hearing the conspiracy cases, and Judge Chambers the vagrancy cases. Attorneys Karl Rogers and Frank Dominguez will defend Earp. The conspiracy cases were set for trial on July 27, while the vagrancy charges were put over until October.

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The Los Angeles Herald published on July 27, 1911:

EARP FILES DEMURRER TO CONSPIRACY CHARGE

After all the facts to be true in a demurrer filed yesterday in Police Judge Rose's court in the conspiracy cases against Wyatt Earp, Ed Dean and Walter Scott, in which they are charged with conspiracy to defraud J. Y. Peterson, a real estate man, out of $2,500, It is held by attorneys for the defendants that the complaint does not charge an offense against the public morals. The cases will come up for hearing on July 27, at which time the arguments on the demurrer will be heard.

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San Diego Union and Daily Bee published on July 28, 1911:

ARRAIGN WYATT EARP ON SWINDLE CHARGE

Story by The Associated Press

I,os Angeles, —Wyatt Earp was arraigned today on a second charge originating in the alleged bunco game in which he, Waller Scott, and W. Dean arc alleged to have tried to fleece J. Y. Peterson, a real estate man, out of $2,500. 

Dean and Scott were also. arraigned the second complaint issued against the men charged with conspiracy to detain on the part of the three alleged bunco men. All were released from Jail on bail. The cases of vagrancy probably will be dismissed but it is likely that the conspiracy to defraud charge will be prosecuted. 

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Los Angeles Herald published on September 28, 1911:

COURT DISMISSES CASES OF GAMBLING ‘CONSPIRACY’ 

Wyatt Earp and Companions, Arrested in Hotel, Discharged

After several months in the justice court, the case of Wyatt Earp, a racing man, and Walter Scott, charged with conspiracy to conduct a gambling game, was dismissed yesterday by Police Judge Ross, and the two men were released. 

The cause of the dismissal was that the city prosecutor felt there was not sufficient evidence to have the men taken before a jury for trial. W. Dean, the third man caught in the raid, pleaded guilty several weeks ago and was given a suspended sentence. Scott had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy but demanded a jury trial. The three were charged with conspiring to conduct a fake gambling game to fleece J.Y. Peterson, a real estate broker, of $2,500.

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Even at the age of 63, he was a con artist. Of course, this all took place 30 years after the 1881 shootout that took place in that alley near the rear of the O.K. Corral. That brief 30-second shooting was what most in Tombstone saw as the boiling point between two feuding factions. From everything that I've read on this, most of the support in Tombstone was divided before the shootout. Some were with the Earp faction while others were with the Clanton faction. 

Some point out how after the Earps and Holliday killed Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, who were armed, and the also killed Tom McLaury who wasn't armed, the public opinion of the Earps shifted in favor of the Clanton faction. For evidence of that support, some point to how reports in the Tombstone Nugget and Tombstone Epitaph indicate that hundreds of people attended the funerals of Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury. 

Specifically, there were approximately 300 people who took part and participated in the procession on foot. There were 22 carriages and buggies carrying mourners. There was one four-horse stagecoach. Also in the procession were horsemen who accompanied the procession, which extended for blocks. And yes, around 2,000 people turned out to watch the funeral procession from the sidewalks. 

While people only paint the Clantons and McLaurys as outlaws, it is important to note that the Clantons and McLaurys were well-known and prosperous cattle ranchers, and their deaths in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral had a significant impact on the community. That is part of what led to such a large turnout at their funerals. The event has been described by some as being the largest funeral in Tombstone's history. 

Folks today forget that the sentiment against the Earps increased after the Earps killed Frank Stillwell and Indian Charlie, also known as Florentino Cruz. The reason was simple. The public was appalled to learn that the mangled, bullet-riddled bodies of Frank Stillwell and Indian Charlie were murdered by the Earp posse in the same way. Coroner's examinations found that both men were shot with several different caliber weapons, which indicated that each of the members of Earp's posse took turns shooting the men -- even after they were dead. Since that wasn't how lawmen were expected to act, even back in the day, many at the time saw the Earps as nothing more than outlaws who acted out personal vengeance and murdered their enemies while wearing badges.

By 1896, Wyatt Earp's key role in the fixed Fitzsimmons vs. Sharkey fight was in the newspapers. It was a fixed fight that could not have been carried out without Wyatt Earp's direct involvement as the fight's referee. Along with Earp's association with gambling sharpies, members of the underworld, and con artists, this led to a significant amount of press and public scrutiny of Earp's morally questionable character. 

For his remaining years, Wyatt Earp's public persona was far from the heroic figure often portrayed in popular culture today.  While he tried to counteract newspaper accounts of his more illicit activities, it was items such as his attempt to fleece J. Y. Peterson out of $2,500 that made the public see him for the con artist that he was. 

Wyatt Earp passed away in 1929 at age 80. After his death, an extremely flattering, overwhelmingly fictional biography, one written with Wyatt Earp’s cooperation, by author Stuart Lake, created the exaggerated myth of Wyatt Earp. It would take several decades after his death, and the help of Hollywood, to rewrite his history, for his image to become that of a "valiant lawman." 

Tom Correa

Justice In 1850s California Was A Mix Of Law And Vigilantes -- Part One

EXECUTION OF JOSEPH BRADLEY.

Joseph Bradley killed Jacob Bateman 

In 1856, Joseph Bradley killed Jacob Bateman at the latter's cabin near Auburn, California. Both parties were negroes. Bradley was arrested, and in July 1857, was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the 18th of September following. Upon the day appointed, the execution took place. 

The gallows was erected about a mile and a quarter above town, near the junction of the Nevada, Illinoistown, and Yankee Jim's road. A procession was formed at the jail, the escort being the [local militia] Placer Rifles Military Company, under the command of Capt. James Anderson. 

A coffin was placed in a light wagon, and Sheriff King, Under Sheriff Bullock, and Deputy Sheriff Sherman, having Bradley in charge, seated themselves upon it. Mr. Zentmyer, the driver, and a gentleman who conducted the religious ceremonies, occupied the front seat. A body of horsemen and many citizens brought up the rear of the procession. 

Upon arriving at the place of execution at half-past two o'clock. Captain Anderson formed his men in a square around the gallows. Sheriff King assisted Bradley from the wagon and walked with him upon the scaffold, followed by his assistant officers. The coffin was placed upon the platform. And Bradley, seating himself upon it, listened with composure to the reading of the death warrant by Mr. Bullock. 

This over, at request, he rose, took off his hat and neck-handkerchief. On being asked if he desired to say anything, he made some remarks. He thanked the officers for their kindness to him while in prison and so on. 

Having finished speaking, he was placed upon the trap, his hands and feet were tied, a black robe put over his person, the noose adjusted around his neck, and a black cap drawn over his head by the Sheriff 

This done, a prayer was offered by the gentleman officiating, and as the solemn Amen announced its conclusion, the Sheriff drew the lever, the trap fell, and the spirit of Joseph Bradley winged its way to the realms of eternity. After remaining until life was extinct, the body was taken down and buried near the foot of the gallows. Bradley conducted himself with firmness throughout the whole scene. About 500 persons witnessed the execution.

Bradley was born in Maryland, near the District of Columbia. He was thirty-nine years of age and had a wife and three children living in Washington City. He made a short confession in which he acknowledged killing Bateman, but that the killing was not premeditated.

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MURDER AND LYNCHING IN AUBURN

The town of Auburn, says The Herald of February 18, 1858, was thrown into a state of excitement by the report that one of its oldest citizens had been killed. Investigation proved that Mr. James Murphy had been killed by a negro, named Aaron Bracey. 

The men owned adjoining lands, and Murphy had recently purchased some of the negro's land. They met near their boundary line, and Bracey struck his victim with a pickaxe, driving the steel into his brain. 

He (the negro) then came to Auburn and gave himself up, telling the officers that he had accidentally struck Murphy, and feared he had hurt him bad. The negro was placed in jail, and a posse of citizens went to attend to Murphy. He was found with a fearful hole in the back of his head, from which the blood and brains were oozing. He lived quite a while and told the circumstances of his murder. 

In the early part of the evening following the deed, a rumor was current on the streets that an attempt would be made to lynch the murderer. Everything was quiet, however, until about half past two o'clock the next morning, Constable Boggs informed the Sheriff that a body of men were approaching the jail. 

As the Sheriff and deputies came out, they were seized and held, and the keys were demanded. While this was going on, a posse busted the doors in with a sledgehammer, and taking the murderer to the outskirts of the town, they proceeded to hang him. 

After Bracey had been taken from the jail, Father Quinn, who had come up from Sacramento to see Mr. Murphy, interceded for the prisoner and tried to quell the citizens. There were about sixty-five or seventy concerned in the lynching, though probably fully one hundred witnessed the hanging. 

The negro was the same one who killed a Chinaman in Auburn, in the spring of 1856, for which crime he was acquitted. Murphy died on the 25th, leaving a wife and two children. Bracey had a wife and family in Camden, New Jersey. He had been in California for several years.

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ROBBERY AND BATTLE.

The store of Otto Thiele & Co. of Danville, California, was entered by robbers, five in number, at a late hour in the night, on March 19, 1859, after the proprietors had retired. They secured the key to the safe, but unable to open it, they awakened the men, and with threats of death if resistance was offered, compelled one of them to open the safe. 

The robbers then obtained about $l350 in gold dust and amalgam, and in coin. They then proceeded to feast themselves on whatever the store offered for a good lunch, and each one of the party provided himself with a new suit of clothes, leaving the old ones in their stead.

The alarm was given next morning, and Sheriff King and Constable Boggs repaired to Danville, where they discovered the trail of the robbers, which led to a point on Bear River. Swimming the river, they made their way to the Nevada Road beyond Bear River, and took the stage running through Auburn to Nevada City, and went as far as Grass Valley.

The harbor of the thieves was ascertained to be in a cabin some two miles from Grass Valley, and a party consisting of Under Sheriff Van Hagan, Deputies Burrell, Johnson, and Lockwood, of Nevada County, and Constable Boggs, of Auburn, proceeded to the cabin for the purpose of effecting a capture. 

Upon arriving, they found the cabin to contain eight desperadoes, who started the fight by firing upon the officers. Shooting on both sides continued until the ammunition of the officers gave out, and they were forced to retire.

Early the next morning, they again returned to the cabin and found one of the robbers had been killed outright, and another wounded in the leg. The balance of the gang had fled. The name of the man killed was Ned Whitney, the murderer of Constable Leary at Columbia, Tuolumne County. Bill Riley was the wounded one. 

Deputy Sheriff Lockwood was shot through the arm; none of the other officers were injured. The result of this fight was the breaking up of one of the most successful gangs that ever operated in that locality.

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The 1850s in California, the years immediately following the Gold Rush, witnessed a period of instability and a rise in "citizen justice" or vigilantism. This was mainly in response to failures of formal law enforcement and the huge influx of people from all over the world. The gold rush resulted in a chaotic society of fortune-seekers, which led to a dramatic population increase and a society lacking established legal structures in many areas.

High crime rates, claim jumping, violence, and violence became commonplace in many areas. Formal law enforcement was in its infancy. Because the people struggled to cope with the huge volume of crime and land disputes, vigilante groups, also known as citizens committees and committees of vigilance, were formed to address the breakdown of law and order. 

As strange as it might sound to folks today, because Hollywood has given people the impression that all Vigilante Groups were drunken mobs, it might surprise folks to learn that such "Citizens Committees" engaged in policing and investigations while maintaining the peace when organized law enforcement was not around. 

In mining camps, which were the majority of the places with the largest populations because that's where thousands of people flocked in search of riches, miners often established their own rules and procedures for resolving disputes, relying on informal gatherings and local customs. In most cases, there were public trials. In most cases, a person being accused did not have legal representation. In some capital cases, the accused were hanged. In other cases, they may have been tarred and feathered, whipped, or maybe banished.  

So, while the 1850s California justice system was a complex mix of law enforcement and vigilante groups, it was evolving and definitely in transition from Mexican rule. This led to both formal legal proceedings and informal justice systems, which resulted in citizens having to create a justice system that worked for them to address crime and maintain order when formal law enforcement was either inadequate or non-existent. This mix of formal legal proceedings and informal justice systems was something that would take place throughout the Old West for years to come.

Tom Correa

Documents Prove Hillary Clinton OK’d Fabricated Plan To "Smear" President Trump With Russia Collusion

According to Declassified Documents, Hillary Clinton Approved a Plan to “Smear” President Trump with Russia Collusion.

Story by Josh Christenson

The New York Post
Published July 31, 2025

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

The 24-page intelligence annex was compiled from memos and emails obtained by the Obama administration in the lead-up to Election Day that laid out “confidential conversations” between leaders of the Democratic National Committee — including then-Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz — and liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

The plot, the brainchild of the Clinton campaign’s then-foreign policy adviser, Julianne Smith, 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 hacking of election infrastructure.

Smith would go on to serve as former President Joe Biden’s ambassador to NATO. “I don’t have any comment,” she told The New York Post when reached by phone Thursday.

Open Society senior vice president Leonard Benardo was looped in on the scheme and laid out its intended effect in a series of emails in late July 2016.

“Julie [sic] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,” Benardo was quoted as writing July 25. “Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.”

Two days later, Benardo wrote: “HRC approved Julia’s idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections. That should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level,” an apparent reference to revelations of a massive state-sponsored doping campaign by Russia following the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

“The point is making the Russian play a U.S. domestic issue,” Benardo also stated. “In absence of direct evidence, Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect will supply the media, and GRU [Russia’s foreign intelligence arm] will hopefully carry on to give more facts.”

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

January 2016 memorandum provided by intelligence source Chairman Grassley

March 2016 memorandum provided by an intelligence source, Chairman Grassley

July 25, 2016, email from Leonard Benardo, Open Society Foundations 

July 27, 2016, email from Leonard Benardo, Open Society Foundations Chairman.

Durham consulted the FBI, which assessed that the information was “likely authentic” but couldn’t corroborate exact copies of the Benardo emails with Open Society Foundations. The CIA also determined that the intelligence was not “the product of Russian fabrications.”

“Smith was, at minimum, playing a role in the Clinton campaign’s efforts to tie Trump to Russia,” Durham concluded.

The Trump-Russia investigation was part of what a March 2016 memo included in the annex described as a “two-prong DP [Democratic Party] opposition [that] is focused on discrediting Trump…. [a]mong other things, the Clinton staff, with support from special services, is preparing scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the ‘Russian Mafia.’”

The “special services” cited in one of the memos referred to intelligence activities of Obama’s CIA and FBI, which may have included the work of “Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.”

The memos also claim then-President Barack Obama was “put[ing] pressure on FBI Director James Comey through Attorney General [Loretta] Lynch” to wrap up the probe of Clinton’s use of a private email server to receive highly classified information while secretary of state.

“Obama,” a January 2016 memo read, “has no intention to darken the final part of his presidency and ‘legacy’ by the scandal surrounding the main contender from the [Democratic Party].”

The March 2016 memo claimed the 44th president had “sanctioned the use of all administrative levers to remove possibly negative effects from the FBI investigation of cases related to the Clinton Foundation and the email correspondence in the State Department.”

In December 2016, Obama ordered a post-election intelligence assessment of nefarious Russian activity surrounding that year’s election.

That assessment, published in January 2017 included — over the objections of senior CIA officials — details from the Steele dossier, an opposition research project funded in part by Clinton’s campaign and the DNC.

In March 2016, then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe shared the memos with senior officials at the Department of Justice, suggesting a plot to launch an investigation based on the Democratic campaign document.

“During the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated … technical structures … in particular, the Crowdstrike and ThreatConnect companies, from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications,” one Benardo email read.

Durham concluded: “The Office’s best assessment is that 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.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other members of the US Intelligence Community declassified the Durham annex 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.”

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).

Ratcliffe said in a statement that the files — some of which came from the CIA — showed “a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump’s presidency.”

Bondi and Patel insisted that the public disclosures would restore Americans’ trust in the government and provide accountability.

“This Department of Justice, alongside the CIA, is committed to truth and transparency and will continue to support good-faith efforts by Congress to hold our government accountable,” Bondi said. “Chairman Grassley is leading by example and shining light on critical issues of great interest to the American people.”

“The American people deserve the full, unfiltered truth about the Russia collusion hoax and the political abuse of our justice system, it exposed,” added Patel. “Today’s declassification and release of documents tied to the Durham report is another step toward that accountability.”

“I’m grateful to Chairman Grassley for his steadfast leadership on this issue, and I look forward to our continued partnership in exposing one of the most shameful frauds ever perpetrated on the American public.”

The New York Post reached out to Benardo and reps for Clinton for comment. 

Democrats Pulled The Greatest Political Con Job Ever On Americans. It's Finally Unraveling

Story by Jonathan Turley

Fox News
July 31, 2025

New declassified documents offer startling revelations about the Hillary Clinton campaign's alleged plan in 2016 to tie Trump to Russia through the FBI and the media

This week, Washington was rocked by new releases in the declassification of material related to the origins of the Russian investigation. The material shows further evidence of a secret plan by the Clinton campaign to use the FBI and media to spread a false claim that Donald Trump was a Russian asset. With this material, the public is finally seeing how officials and reporters set into motion what may be the greatest hoax ever perpetrated in American politics.

There never was a Russian collusion conspiracy. This is the emerging story of the real Russian conspiracy to manufacture a false narrative that succeeded in devouring much of the first term of the Trump administration.

What is emerging in these documents is a political illusion carefully constructed by government officials and a willing media. The brilliance of the trick was getting reporters to buy into the illusion; to own it like members of an audience called to the stage by an illusionist.

The effort closely followed the three steps of the classic magic trick: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.

The Pledge

The trick began with the pledge, the stage where the public is set up by showing ordinary events with the suggestion that it is about to transform into something extraordinary. The key is to make something seem real that is actually not.

The Clinton campaign delivered the pledge by secretly funding the Steele dossier, using Fusion GPS and a former British spy named Christopher Steele, to create a salacious account of Trump being an agent of Russia.

It was Elias who was the general counsel to the Clinton presidential campaign when it funded the infamous Steele dossier and pushed the false Alfa Bank conspiracy. His fellow Perkins Coie partner, Michael Sussmann, was indicted but acquitted in a criminal trial.

During the campaign, a few reporters asked about the possible connection to the campaign, but Clinton campaign officials denied any involvement in the Steele Dossier. After the election, journalists discovered that the payments for the Steele dossier were hidden as "legal fees" among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie under Elias.

When New York Times reporter Ken Vogel tried to report the story, he said, Elias "pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’" Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, "Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year."

Later, John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, appeared before Congress for questioning on the Steele dossier. Podesta emphatically denied any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.

The FEC ultimately sanctioned the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee over the handling of the funding of the dossier through his prior firm.

The Turn

The next step is the turn, when the ordinary becomes something extraordinary. This required the involvement of the government. The Clinton team worked behind the scenes to feed the dossier to the FBI. It would be the criminal investigation that would transform the ordinary accounts, like Carter Page speaking in Moscow, into an elaborate Russian plot. Even though the FBI was warned early on that Page was a CIA asset, not a Russian asset, the Clinton team found eager officials in the Obama administration to assist in the illusion.

The newly disclosed evidence shows how the turn was made. In July 2016, Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s "plan" to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia as "a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server." The original Russia investigation — funded by Clinton’s campaign — was launched days after this briefing.

Months later, it would be Brennan who overruled his own CIA analysts in his ordering of a second last-minute assessment at the end of the Obama administration in support of the Russian allegations. It would help make the turn with the all-consuming Russian investigation that would follow.

Career analysts were not buying the turn. They objected that the reliance on the Steele dossier "ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment." 

One CIA analyst told investigators that "[Brennan] refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier’s main flaws, [Brennan] responded, ‘Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?’"

That is the key to the turn; it needs only to be enough to fool the audience.

The Prestige


The final stage is called the Prestige, where the magician faces the toughest part of the trick. As explained in the 2006 movie "The Prestige," the viewer is "looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled." However, "making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back."

The difference is that this trick was designed to derail Trump and it worked. In the end, however, the Special Counsel and Inspector General both rejected the Russian collusion claims. The public then reelected Trump. Now, the prestige may be revealed by the CIA.

Reports indicate that the CIA is about to declassify material showing that foreign sources were also in on the trick. The information reportedly indicates that foreign sources were aware of the move to create a Russian collusion scandal and expected that the FBI would play a role in the plan. That was before the bureau launched its controversial Crossfire Hurricane probe. One source said the foreign intelligence predicted the move "with alarming specificity."

The most recently declassified material shows that the Russian actors in 2016 hacked emails from the Open Society Foundations, formerly known as the Soros Foundation. The emails show an even wider circle of activists and allies who were aware of the Clinton conspiracy.

Leonard Bernardo, who was the regional director for Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations, explained that "during the first stage of the campaign, due to lack of direct evidence, it was decided to disseminate the necessary information through the FBI-affiliated…from where the information would then be disseminated through leading U.S. publications."

Bernardo added, "Julie (Clinton Campaign Advisor) says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump. Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later, the FBI will put more oil into the fire."

The media (including the Washington Post and New York Times, which won Pulitzer prizes for reporting on the debunked claims) are apoplectic in dismissing these disclosures. The last thing they will do is report on how they helped sell a political hoax. The problem is that they never said it was a trick. They said it was the truth. 

That is why CIA Director John Ratcliff's big reveals have this town on the edge of its seat. It appears that everyone was in on the trick: the U.S. government, the media, even foreign governments. The only chumps were the American people. Now they are about to see how it was done.

About the Author: Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage" (Simon & Schuster, June 18, 2024).

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As for me posting this on my blog, The American Cowboy Chronicles, I believe what is being called "Russia-gate" is a criminal conspiracy the likes of which Americans have never seen before. It is the biggest crime against the American people in American History. It is bigger than Watergate, and the people who were a part of this should be tried for treason. 

It has taken a lot of hard work to uncover the full extent of what President Obama and Hilary Clinton did to try to bring down a sitting American President. And yes, more facts are being exposed every day. Whether we want to call it "Russia-gate" or "Obama-gate," the operation was nothing less than a deliberate coup to take down President Trump while in office. It was their attempt to subvert the will of the American people and to make void the results of the 2016 Presidential Election. 

They did it because they lost the election. They did it to remain in power at all costs, including attempting an overthrow of the presidency. Obama and Clinton, along with the heads of the FBI, CIA, and many more, all supported that operation. And now they have to pay for what they did.

What they tried to do was a real and present danger to our American Republic from the people at the highest levels of our government. Yes, it was treason.   

 

PATEL FOUND THOUSANDS OF SENSITIVE TRUMP–RUSSIA PROBE DOCS INSIDE 'BURN BAGS' IN SECRET ROOM AT FBI

New Evidence of Obama Administration Conspiracy to Subvert President Trump’s 2016 Victory and Presidency

New Russiagate evidence 'directly' points to Obama, DOJ will decide 'criminal implications': Gabbard

Russiagate definitive timeline: How new intelligence documents fit in

I will try to keep you up to date on what's taking place. 

Tom Correa