'Crossfire Hurricane' suddenly gets serious: Senators want 'all records' on 'Obamagate'

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee has subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding he release all documents related to Crossfire Hurricane, the Obama administration's probe of now-debunked Trump-Russia collusion.

Fox News reported the FBI must provide by Aug. 20 "all records provided or made available to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice for its review."

The chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., also wants "all records related to requests" to the General Services Administration or the Office of the Inspector General for the GSA for "presidential transition records from November 2016 through December 2017."

The DOJ's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, concluded the FBI committed at least 17 significant errors or omissions in its applications to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump campaign. The central evidence was the bogus, anti-Trump Steele dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The FBI, in a statement, noted it already has produced documents for the committee and will continue to cooperate.

The committee voted in June to authorize a long list of subpoenas, although most have not been issued yet.

The bureau also has authorized subpoenas to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the "unmasking" scandal during the closing days of the Obama administration, as well as former FBI Counsel James Baker, former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, Joe Pientka, former White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former FBI director of counterintelligence Bill Priestap, former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, Sidney Blumenthal and a number of other Obama-era officials.

Barack Obama (Video screenshot)

Is Barack Obama the driving force behind the illegal spying on the Trump campaign?

According to the Washington Examiner, Johnson also released an 11-page letter Monday defending efforts to investigate allege FBI misconduct by his committee and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

"As the FBI had done since the beginning of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, rather than using exculpatory information to end their investigation, the FBI ramped it up. Confidential human sources became FISA wiretaps; top FBI officials argued for inclusion of the unverified and salacious Steele dossier to be included in the body of the Obama administration’s Intelligence Community Assessment, and finally, the FBI investigation ballooned into a special counsel investigation,” Johnson wrote.

"As a result, the Trump administration was tormented for over two years by an aggressive investigation and media speculation, all based on a false narrative. This has taken a tremendous toll on our country. Had the public known what the FBI knew at that time about its Trump-Russia inquiry, it’s hard to imagine public support for continuing the investigation, much less the appointment of a special counsel four months later."

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates both recently testified that if they knew then what they know now, they never would have signed the FISA warrant applications to spy on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.

Also in focus is the relationship between then-Vice President Joseph Biden's son, Hunter, and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which paid him more than $3 million to serve on its board while his father was pointman for Ukraine-U.S. policy.

Johnson wrote: "Democrats and many in the media have mainly focused their criticism of our investigation on the Biden component of our oversight. ... In their current attempt to circle the wagons around Biden, they have once again decided to weaponize a false ‘Russian disinformation’ narrative as a tool for attacking their political opponents. As Chairman Grassley and I have pointed out in rebuttals to their unfounded accusations, it is Democrats who have sought out and disseminated Russian disinformation. It was the Democratic National Committee, together with cutouts for the Clinton campaign, that paid for and helped peddle the Steele dossier."

Johnson said he's focused on "allegations of conflicts of interest within the Obama administration related to Ukraine policy and, second, allegations of corruption within the Obama administration affecting the 2016 election, the transition between administrations, and Obama administration holdovers' sabotage of the Trump administration."

Johnson noted he previously helped uncover Comey's efforts to protect Hillary Clinton in the investigation of her transmission of classified information through a private, unsecure email server.

Johnson's committee has identified 125 "leaks" of government information during the first 126 days of the Trump administration, including dozens that threatened national security.

"Leaks of this nature are proof that individuals within the administration, the departments and agencies, have engaged in activities that seek to undermine the president's policies," the letter said.

Regarding the Biden family, he said: "We didn't target Joe and Hunter Biden for investigation; their previous actions had put them in the middle of it," he said.

He said he "could not disagree more" with Joe Biden's claim that there was "no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity" regarding Hunter Biden's position on Burisma's board.

Johnson described it as the Biden's family's "profiteering off of" Joe Biden's "official responsibilities," since Joe Biden's brothers and sister-in-law "also are reported to have benefited financially from his work as well."

"As our investigation continues, more will be uncovered and revealed, " the letter said. "As always, almost all of the documents we are seeking and will make public are from U.S. sources. Everything will be carefully verified for accuracy and veracity. Chairman Grassley and I will not be deterred by the false accusations despicably being made by individuals with strong political biases and motivations. Our investigation has been, and will continue to be, undertaken with the greatest integrity and transparency. We intend to determine and reveal the truth."