Director of National Intelligence Alleges ‘Treasonous Conspiracy’ Against Trump by Obama Administration

‘Every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,’ Tulsi Gabbard says.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, speaks during a Senate Committee on Intelligence hearing at Washington, D.C. on March 25, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is leveling serious allegations against President Obama and senior officials in his administration, accusing them of orchestrating a “treasonous conspiracy” against President Trump during and after the 2016 presidential election.

Ms. Gabbard’s claims on Fox News on Saturday follow a newly declassified report that she released a day earlier, which includes more than 100 pages of emails, memos, and other records providing “overwhelming evidence” of what she called Obama officials’ “conspiracy to subvert President Trump.”

“The intelligence community assessed – and this is what the documents detail – essentially Russia doesn’t have the tools, the capability, or the intent to try to change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election,” she said. 

President Obama and the losing Democratic candidate in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, spent the first few months after the election building a case that Russia had meddled in the election. But Ms. Gabbard said all of their claims ran counter to intelligence their own officials were gathering.

Among the documents Ms. Gabbard released was a September 12, 2016, Intelligence Community Assessment that stated “foreign adversaries do not have and will probably not obtain the capabilities to successfully execute widespread and undetected cyber attacks” on election infrastructure.

Then, on December 7, 2016, then-DNI James Clapper’s office declared that “foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. Presidential election outcome” and “we have no evidence of cyber manipulation of election infrastructure intended to alter results.”

That does not necessarily contradict what the Obama administration said publicly at the time. While accusing Russia of hacking and leaking sensitive emails in an attempt to sway the election, the Department of Homeland Security said in a public statement on Oct. 7, 2016, that it and the U.S. intelligence community “assess that it would be extremely difficult for someone, including a nation-state actor, to alter actual ballot counts or election results by cyber attack or intrusion.”

But Ms. Gabbard said the declassified reports show that officials in the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence” as part of an effort to lay the groundwork for what she described as a “years-long coup” against Mr. Trump. She said senior Obama officials deliberately concealed their own findings from the public.

The internal findings of the Obama administration, Ms. Gabbard said, were suppressed after the FBI, led by longtime Trump foe Director James Comey, declared it would  “dissent” from the conclusions “based on some new guidance.”

Mr. Clapper then compiled an alternative intelligence report that said Russia orchestrated the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails, many of which were later posted online by Wikileaks. The entire mess led to the appointment of a special counsel, James Mueller.

“The years-long Mueller investigation that cost taxpayers almost $40 million to congressional impeachments, endless smears, and attacks against not only President Trump but his family,” she said. “He had senior members of his team who were investigated, some arrested and jailed. We had heightened and increased tensions between the United States and Russia.”

According to Ms. Gabbard, the so-called Steele dossier, which was central to the Russia collusion narrative but later completely debunked, was used even though members of the intelligence community deemed it “not credible” and declared it “should not be used at all.” 

Ms. Gabbard also said she has referred the documents to the Department of Justice for further action. “The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue. It is one that concerns every American. The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government,” she said.

“Exposing the truth and naming those who are responsible should drive that accountability that has to take place,” Ms. Gabbard added. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The integrity of our democratic republic depends on it.”


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use