WASHINGTON, D.C. – Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard ignited controversy last Friday after releasing declassified records that she says reveal a conspiracy by Obama administration officials to create false intelligence about ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Tulsi Gabbard said she has sent the information to the Department of Justice for a criminal probe and promised more documents are coming soon. Her claims have set off heated responses from Democrats and prompted major news outlets to defend the Obama administration, putting the spotlight back on who shapes the nation’s political stories and how the press covers them.
Tulsi Gabbard, once a Democratic congresswoman and now an intelligence leader aligned with pro-Trump politics, accuses high-ranking Obama-era officials of politicizing intelligence after Trump’s election win over Hillary Clinton.
She names former President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice as key figures.
Tulsi Gabbard Fingers Obama
Tulsi Gabbard claims the Obama administration rejected earlier assessments that Russia was “probably not trying” to sway the election with cyberattacks.
Instead, she says, they leaned on questionable sources like the Steele dossier to push the Trump-Russia collusion story. In her statement, Tulsi Gabbard called their actions a betrayal of democracy and said the goal was to undermine the 2016 vote.
The released documents, over 100 pages, include internal emails, memos, and a timeline meant to highlight differences between pre- and post-election intelligence reports. For example, a December 2016 draft of the Presidential Daily Brief said foreign interference did not change the election’s outcome through hacking.
Tulsi Gabbard notes that only a month later, a January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment claimed Russian interference was aimed at helping Trump. She insists this shift was political, not based on new evidence. According to Gabbard, a key meeting on December 9, 2016, attended by top Obama staff, laid the groundwork for what she calls the “Russia hoax.”
DOJ Criminal Referral
Her referral to the DOJ, confirmed on Monday, does not list individuals targeted for prosecution but does name major Obama-era officials. This comes as FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly already launched inquiries into Brennan and Comey for possibly giving false testimony to Congress about the Trump-Russia investigation.
Gabbard, speaking with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, stressed the need for accountability to restore trust in the intelligence community. She called the issue historic and promised further disclosures.
Democrats have attacked Gabbard’s report, saying she is using her position to boost Trump’s claims about a “Russiagate hoax.” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dismissed the story as another attempt by Gabbard to spread doubt about the agencies she leads.
Warner referred to the committee’s 2020 findings, which confirmed widespread Russian efforts to sway the 2016 election through hacking and disinformation. Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the committee’s top Democrat in the House, called Gabbard’s accusations baseless and argued they are meant to take attention away from issues like Trump’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Legacy Media Jumps into Action
News outlets have been split in their coverage. CNN, MSNBC, and The Washington Post quickly challenged Gabbard’s claims. MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin said the report drew focus away from the Epstein controversy, while The Washington Post said Gabbard misrepresented the 2017 intelligence report, which it said focused on Russian influence campaigns rather than actual tampering with election results.
ABC and NBC News gave little airtime to the claims over the weekend, while CNN only mentioned the story briefly, according to transcripts from Grabien Media. Critics say this selective coverage shows a wider pattern of shielding Obama-era officials, despite Gabbard’s insistence that she has “overwhelming evidence.” On the other hand, Fox News has heavily covered the story, with hosts like Sean Hannity saying it supports Trump’s view that he was wronged.
Skeptics point out that previous investigations—including Robert Mueller’s 2019 probe, a Justice Department inspector general review, the 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report, and John Durham’s 2023 special counsel investigation—did not find evidence of a criminal conspiracy by Obama staff.
The Senate report, backed by then-Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State under Trump, confirmed Russian meddling but stopped short of showing direct Trump campaign collusion.
Democrats Crying Foul
However, Gabbard’s backers argue her new documents reveal internal disagreement within the intelligence community, such as FBI pushback over the wording in the 2017 report, which they believe was ignored in favour of a political narrative.
The release of these documents happens as tensions grow between Gabbard and Trump on intelligence about Iran’s nuclear activity and as the administration faces questions about handling Epstein-related files.
Some Democrats, such as Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, say Gabbard is trying to get back in Trump’s good graces and distract from other controversies.
On X, conservative accounts have praised Gabbard as someone standing up to the “Deep State,” with users like @AlexChecked and @JimFergusonUK calling for legal action to help rebuild public trust.
As more declassified materials are expected, Gabbard’s claims have pushed debates about the 2016 election and the intelligence community back to the forefront. Whether any prosecutions come from her referrals is still unclear.
Still, her actions are already shifting the political climate, with both sides prepared for a drawn-out struggle over truth, responsibility, and the memory of one of America’s most debated elections.
