Washington, D.C.— Former FBI assistant director James Kallstrom said that he believes there was an internal plot among “high-ranking people throughout government, not just the FBI,” to exonerate Hillary Clinton for political purposes during the 2016 presidential election.

While appearing on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo, Kallstrom, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, was asked: “Do you think somebody was directing them or do you think they just came to the conclusion on their own, this leadership at the FBI and the Department of Justice, that they wanted to change the outcome of the election?”

“I think we have ample facts revealed to us during this last year and a half that high-ranking people throughout government, not just the FBI, high-ranking people had a plot to not have Hillary Clinton, you know, indicted,” Kallstrom responded.

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“I think it goes right to the top,” Kallstrom continued. “And it involves that whole strategy – they were gonna win, nobody would have known any of this stuff, and they just unleashed the intelligence community. Look at the unmaskings. We haven’t heard anything about that yet. Look at the way they violated the rights of all those American citizens.”

Kallstrom claimed the Trump-Russia story was essentially a “back-up plan.”

“They had a backup plan to basically frame Donald Trump and that’s what’s been going,” Kallstrom said.

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Kallstrom discussed other “high-ranking” individuals he believed to be involved in a conspiracy to insulate Hillary Clinton and damage Donald Trump.

“Jim Comey is not a stupid individual. I think he’s naive and has an ego the size of the Empire State Building, and he has a lot of other faults, that got him into this trouble,” said Kallstrom. “But I could be wrong, they could have been in lockstep. But there is no question that he, and McCabe others in the FBI, and we’ll find out the State Dept., and the National Security Advisors to the president, and John Brennan. Did you see John Brennan’s remarks?”

In a December appearance on Fox Business, Kallstrom said that a “cabal” of individuals, including top FBI officials, had conducted a politicized witch hunt meant to undermine Trump’s legitimacy.

“People tweet each other and they send text messages, but they don’t plan. The FBI is not in the business of planning to destroy a President of the United States,” Kallstrom added, referring to the infamous “insurance policy” texts. “I think they were way above their capability. This guy thinks he’s the lone ranger, this Peter Strzok.”