Hillary Clinton approved a plan during the 2016 presidential race which aimed to smear then candidate Doonald Trump by linking him to Russia interference in order to divert attention from her own growing email scandal, according to newly declassified intelligence documents.The files, released Thursday, show the plan involved “raising the theme of ‘Putin’s support for Trump’” and pushing public opinion to connect Russia’s political influence with actual interference in US election systems.“Clinton approved a plan proposed by one of her foreign policy advisors, Julianne Smith, to ‘smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by the Russian special services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate,’” said one of the memos, as cited by The New York Post.The information was uncovered by special counsel John Durham during a years-long investigation into intelligence operations surrounding the 2016 election.Attorney general Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel, and other intelligence officials declassified the materials at the request of senator 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.“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 weaponised against President Trump,” he added as quoted by the New York Post.“This political weaponisation 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.”This comes soon after the US department of justice officially received a criminal referral from former Congresswoman and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on July 22. The referral accused senior officials from the Obama administration of engaging in a “treasonous conspiracy” aimed at undermining Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory and casting doubt on the integrity of the democratic process.Gabbard released over 100 pages of internal documents, which she says reveal intentional efforts by Obama-era officials to suppress non-threatening intelligence in the final weeks of his presidency.