Tulsi Gabbard Ratchets Up Pressure on Obama, Releases More Russia Documents as She Denounces ‘Egregious Weaponization’ of Intelligence

The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has declassified a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report that she says exposes that the Obama administration manufactured a false 2017 intelligence assessment.The newly released report — the latest in a volley of releases by Ms. Gabbard of internal communications of Obama aides — rejects the claim that President Putin favored President Trump over Secretary Clinton in the 2016 election.Ms. Gabbard says a false assessment was used to promote a lie, promulgated by the Democrats so as to damage Mr. Trump’s presidency, that Mr. Putin and the Russian government helped Mr. Trump win the election.“New evidence has emerged of the most egregious weaponization and politicization of intelligence in American history,” Ms. Gabbard says on X.President Trump at the Oval Office, July 22, 2025, saying that President Obama had been directly implicated in a ‘treasonous’ plot to use the Russia probe to undermine Trump’s first term. AP/Alex Brandon“In doing so, they conspired to subvert the will of the American people, working with their partners in the media to promote the lie, in order to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump, essentially enacting a years-long coup against him,” Ms. Gabbard continues.The report found that Mr. Putin launched conventional and cyber influence operations during the 2016 election, including leaking politically sensitive email messages that were hacked with the goal of undermining faith in American democracy and weakening what was considered to be an inevitable Clinton presidency — rather than electing Mr. Trump.It found intelligence failures that called into question a narrative — allegedly pushed by President Obama and his retinue — that describes how Mr. Putin “developed a clear preference for candidate Trump” and “aspired to help his chances of victory.”The report said the Obama administration’s conclusions failed to properly describe the quality and credibility of the sources used to come up with that analysis. It also said that Mr. Obama’s characterization of Moscow’s motives was not made “independent of political considerations.” The national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, joins Republican members of the House of Representatives for a celebratory reception hosted by President Trump in the East Room of the White House on July 22, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe report found the judgement about Mr. Putin’s preference was based on one source, Christopher Steele, a British former intelligence officer, who had a clear bias.Ms. Gabbard says the report concludes that Mr. Obama, a former director of the CIA, John Brennan, and others fabricated what she and Mr. Trump now call “the Russia hoax,” suppressed intelligence showing Mr. Putin was preparing for a victory by Mrs. Clinton, manufactured findings from shoddy sources, disobeyed intelligence community standards, and knowingly lied to the American people.Wednesday’s release is the second by Ms. Gabbard in recent days in an effort to show senior members of the Obama administration, including that the president, had orchestrated a “treasonous conspiracy” against Mr. Trump.Mr. Obama is strongly denying the claim that he was a “ringleader” behind any deception.President Obama and John Brennan are both implicated directly in Tulsi Gabbard’s findings, President Trump says. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesIn a rare statement, a spokesman for Mr. Obama, Patrick Rodenbush, on Tuesday said, “Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response.“But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Mr. Rodenbush said.Ms. Gabbard has made criminal referrals to the Department of Justice in order to assess if further investigation, and possible criminal charges, are warranted, Fox News reports.Speaking on Tuesday in the Oval Office about Ms. Gabbard’s initial tranche of documents, Mr. Trump noted specifically that Mr. Obama himself was implicated and said that, considering President Biden’s aggressive prosecutions of the president, Mr. Obama and his aides should be prosecuted. On January 17, 2014, the director of the FBI, James Comey, the CIA director, John Brennan, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, and the secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, wait before the arrival of President Obama at Washington, D.C. Comey, Clapper, and Brennan were all directly implicated in Tulsi Gabbard’s Russia report, according to President Trump. Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images“After what they did to me, whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly,” he said.“The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold. … They tried to rig the election and they got caught — and there should be very severe consequences for that.”

Tulsi Gabbard Ratchets Up Pressure on Obama, Releases More Russia Documents as She Denounces ‘Egregious Weaponization’ of Intelligence

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