In a significant move, FBI Director Kash Patel has handed over hundreds of pages of declassified documents related to the bureau’s contentious “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. This action comes after a directive from President Donald Trump, who ordered the declassification of records linked to the investigation, which has long been a source of controversy.
Among the documents released are nearly 700 pages, titled the “Crossfire Hurricane Redacted Binder,” dated April 9, 2025, which were exclusively obtained by Just the News.
The decision to release these documents aligns with a March executive order from Trump, designed to finalize the declassification of materials connected to the FBI’s probe into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia. This move follows previous resistance from the Trump administration’s own Justice Department in the final days of his presidency in January 2021, when they blocked the release of these crucial records.
The declassification initiative also follows four years of pushback from the Biden administration’s Justice Department and FBI. Under the leadership of former Attorney General Merrick Garland and ex-FBI Director Christopher Wray, the agencies consistently denied access to these materials.
The Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which began in 2016 and targeted then-candidate Trump, was launched based on unverified claims of collusion with the Russian government. Over time, the investigation has faced widespread criticism, with some asserting that it was politically driven and designed to undermine Trump’s presidency.
Trump’s March executive order, titled “Immediate Declassification of Materials Related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation,” is linked to his earlier, unsuccessful effort to declassify similar documents during the final hours of his first term. In a statement, Trump declared that all materials referenced in his January 2021 Presidential Memorandum should no longer be classified, emphasizing his belief that they should be made public to the fullest extent possible.
In January 2021, Trump had made a similar move, ordering the declassification of remaining materials in the Crossfire Hurricane binder. However, the FBI, led by Wray, had raised concerns about specific passages that it deemed necessary to withhold. Despite Trump’s willingness to accept these redactions, the Justice Department under Garland blocked his attempt to release the documents after he left office.
Despite Trump’s declassification order and a directive from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to release the binder of documents, the Justice Department and FBI under the Biden administration did not comply.
A two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller ultimately found no evidence of criminal collusion between Trump and Russia. Further scrutiny by the DOJ’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, revealed serious flaws in the FBI’s investigation, particularly its reliance on a controversial dossier central to the surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page. This dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, was financed by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign through the opposition research firm Fusion GPS.
An additional investigation led by special counsel John Durham further revealed that neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community had any solid evidence of collusion when the Crossfire Hurricane investigation began. Durham’s report also criticized the FBI for failing to substantiate the claims in the Steele dossier.
Despite these findings, some prominent Democrats, including Senator Adam Schiff, have continued to push the unproven allegations of collusion.
