Former NSA Cyber Chief: DNC Was Not Hacked in 2016
Aug. 1--In a sweeping rebuttal of one of the most entrenched narratives surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election, former National Security Agency (NSA) technical director William Binney and members of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) have maintained for 8 years that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) email breach was not a hack by Russian operatives—but rather a leak conducted by someone with insider access.
The VIPS forensic analysis, released in July 2017, asserted that data transfer speeds recorded during the breach could not have occurred via remote hacking over the internet. “On the evening of July 5, 2016, 1,976 megabytes of data were downloaded from the DNC’s server... in just 87 seconds,” the report stated. According to Binney and his colleagues, such speeds—roughly 22.7 megabytes per second—would only have been possible through direct access, such as copying data onto a USB thumb drive.
VIPS also presented evidence that metadata attached to the Guccifer 2.0 documents—widely cited as proof of Russian involvement—had been deliberately altered to create a false trail. “A simple peeling away of the documents’ top layer of metadata shows the sloppy and intentional misattribution,” said Skip Folden, a former IBM program manager and member of the VIPS forensic team.
VIPS concluded: “The so-called ‘hack’ was actually an inside job by someone with internal access to the DNC’s computer network.”
The Faked January 2017 Intelligence Consensus
The claims directly contradict the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), which alleged—with “high confidence”—that Russia had hacked the DNC and released the stolen emails to WikiLeaks in an effort to damage Hillary Clinton and aid Donald Trump.
Critics of the VIPS findings cited the ICA as definitive. However, the ICA itself admitted its conclusions were not backed by hard evidence. The document noted, “Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact.” Despite these caveats, the ICA became a cornerstone of the narrative supporting Russian election interference and alleged collusion with Trump that lead to the attempt by his enemies to impeach him
Evidence has now emerged that this official narrative was shaped by political motives, and as directed by President Barack Obama, was intended to counter a December intelligence consensus that found that there was no effective Russian interference in the 2016 election and no efforts by the Russians to elect Donald Trump, and no collusion with his campaign on these matters. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who, on order from the White House, in July 2025 released formerly classified memos and documents that she says proved that President Barack Obama and his key intelligence and other officials conducted a coup against the popularly elected president, Donald Trump. She demanded that Obama and those officials be held directly accountable for their treasonous actions.
CIA Director John Radcliffe has already referred information of possible criminal activity in these matters by former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey. The FBI is currently investigating the matter.
The Proof of a Coup
Declassified internal memos released by Gabbard revealed that a December 8, 2016 Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) concluded there was no effective Russian interference in the election. It stated that “Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure.” The assessment also found no evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump.
The PDB, however, was withdrawn from circulation after a meeting convened by President Obama on December 9, 2016, attended by CIA Director Brennan and DNI James Clapper. The next day, Clapper’s office was ordered to produce a revised assessment. That revised document became the January 2017 ICA—now accused of being a politically motivated counter-narrative intended to discredit the president-elect.
According to newly released material, Hillary Clinton herself approved a strategy to falsely link Trump to Russia. A memo originating from Clinton’s campaign and later included in the Durham investigation claimed that Clinton personally authorized a plan “to smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by the Russian special services.” The effort was reportedly designed to distract public attention from her own email server controversy and capitalize on media hostility toward Vladimir Putin.
Hillary Clinton's Direct Role
Documents declassified on July 31, 2025, further revealed that Clinton campaign operatives expected the FBI and media outlets to amplify the fabricated claims, triggering formal investigations and widespread public suspicion. Communications from allies within George Soro's Open Society Foundations described the effort as a “long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,” anticipating that “the FBI will put more oil into the fire.”
It was Clinton's campaign that was contacted by British Intelligence, through officials of MI6 and the General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and was offered "former" British Intelligence officer Christopher Steele to investigate collusion between Russia and Donald Trump and his campaign. The resulting so-called Steele dossier, featuring internet rumors about Trump, was denounced by U.S, intelligence officials as worthless trash, but was nonetheless included as documentation supporting the revised, and according to Gabbard "faked" intelligence assessment claiming Russian interference in the election.
Binney's Credentials
William Binney’s authority on these matters is unmatched. As one of the architects of the NSA’s ThinThread surveillance program, Binney and his team developed a system designed to detect foreign and domestic threats to national security while preserving constitutional protections. ThinThread, according to Binney, would have detected the 9/11 plot had it remained operational—but the program was inexplicably shut down in August 2001 by then-NSA Director Michael Hayden.
Binney later demonstrated that ThinThread could have uncovered key communications prior to the attacks and offered predictive insights into terrorist activity. His whistleblowing efforts regarding unconstitutional mass surveillance programs like Trailblazer led to his forced resignation from the NSA and a years-long legal assault from the Bush administration, which sought to imprison him. Binney’s story—and his fight to defend constitutional oversight of the intelligence community—was the subject of the award-winning documentary film, A Good American.
The Pompeo Meeting
The VIPS analysis of the DNC "hack" was bought to the attention of President Trump, who instructed CIA Director Mike Pompeo to meet with Binney in October 2017. Binney reported that Pompeo promised to facilitate meetings with congressional and intelligence leaders to vet the evidence. "Pompeo said he’d make sure the truth got to Congress," Binney said later. "Then he buried everything.”
Despite Binney’s direct brief, no further meetings occurred. Pompeo later publicly supported the January ICA findings, a move Binney described as a betrayal of the facts presented to him.
With the release by Gabbard of formerly classified materials that document the coup against President Trump, the time has come for VIPS demolition of the alleged Russian hack of the DNC computers to also be given a fair hearing. If that happens, we may find out that there were collaborators of the coup plotters inside Mr. Trump's administration, and even in his inner circle, who acted to suppress information that would have exposed the coup. Such people are part of a cross-party grouping who were then and are still now opposed to the efforts President Trump to secure a durable peace with Russia, and also China.
The fresh wave of declassified documents is sending shockwaves through Washington. Conservative lawmakers are demanding new hearings, suggesting that high-level intelligence operations were politicized to influence a presidential election. Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted, “The public was lied to. The election narrative was shaped not by evidence, but by agenda.”
There was interference in the 2016 election, only not by Russia. It came from the longstanding enemy of the American Republic, the British Empire and its foreign intelligence services. And continues against President Trump to this day, in their active support of the creation of illegal surveillance state put in place in this country, which Bill Binney and his fellow VIPS members have been fighting against for more than 2 decades.
If we pull the string on what really happened in the Russiagate coup, we may finally also find out what really was behind the 9/11 attack on this country. Eventually, the truth has a way of making itself known, against all efforts to suppress it.
📅 Timeline of Key Events and Intelligence Disputes
Date
Event
July 5, 2016
VIPS claims that DNC data was locally copied at speeds implying a leak, not a remote hack.
July 2016
Intelligence received by CIA alleges Clinton approved a smear campaign tying Trump to Russia.
December 8, 2016
Presidential Daily Brief concludes Russia had no effective election interference.
December 9, 2016
Obama convenes national security meeting; original assessment suppressed.
January 6, 2017
Intelligence Community releases ICA alleging Russian interference and Trump collaboration.
May–October 2017
Binney’s forensic findings brought to Trump’s attention; Trump instructs Pompeo to meet him.
October 24, 2017
Pompeo meets Binney but never follows through on promised briefings and Congressional support.
July 2025
DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassifies PDB and internal memos debunking the ICA narrative.
July 31, 2025
Documents show Clinton’s campaign approved effort to falsely link Trump with Russian agents.