Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released newly declassified documents Wednesday she said were evidence of Intelligence Community (IC) abuses designed to create a narrative that Russia favored President Trump in the 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Making a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room, Gabbard detailed a declassified version of a House Intelligence Committee report that she said provided "irrefutable evidence" on how former President Obama and his senior officials allegedly "directed the creation of an Intelligence Community assessment that they knew was false."
"They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it was true. It wasn't," Gabbard said.
"They worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie, ultimately to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump and launching what would be a years-long coupe against him and his administration."
The new documents allege that senior Obama administration officials included discredited information in their Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA). Gabbard said the officials "suppressed evidence" and "disobeyed traditional tradecraft IC standards," including through the use of an unsubstantiated dossier created by British spy Christopher Steele.
The report is based on an investigation from former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, blasted Gabbard's release.
"The desperate and irresponsible release of the partisan House intelligence report puts at risk some of the most sensitive sources and methods our Intelligence Community uses to spy on Russia and keep Americans safe," Warner said. "And in doing so, Director Gabbard is sending a chilling message to our allies and assets around the world: the United States can no longer be trusted to protect the intelligence you share with us."
"Nothing in this partisan, previously scuttled document changes that," he added. "Releasing this so-called report is just another reckless act by a Director of National Intelligence so desperate to please Donald Trump that she is willing to risk classified sources, betray our allies, and politicize the very intelligence she has been entrusted to protect."
Gabbard has turned her findings over to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible criminal referrals for senior Obama-era officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.
Trump has lashed out at Obama, saying he's guilty of treason and calling for charges.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Trump wants everyone involved to be "thoroughly investigated and held accountable."
A spokesperson for Obama called the claims "outrageous" and "bizarre," pointing to a bipartisan report in 2020 from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which at the time was led by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, finding that Russia meddled in the election to try to boost Trump.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told the Christian Broadcasting Network that he'd be open to a new special counsel being appointed to investigate Gabbard's claims.
"I do expect that whether there's a special counsel appointed, which some are suggesting, and/or in conjunction with the House investigations, that we will get the answers and there will be accountability to the extent that we're able to do that," Johnson said.
Separate from Gabbard's findings, Republicans are furious over the years-long media frenzy around allegations that members of the Trump campaign worked with Russia to steal the election from Clinton.
"Allies of the president, including his own son Donald Trump, Jr., were disgustingly smeared as Russian assets and some even had their lives destroyed because of this vicious lie," Leavitt said. "The president's first two years in office had this distraction hanging over it and endless time, resources and political capital were spent having to debunk these lies."
The topic dominated Trump's first term in office and made stars out of media personalities that leaned into the story. Special counsel Robert Mueller detailed numerous contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian nationals, but did not find evidence of collusion.
"Reporters at legacy outlets…were ridiculously awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their perpetuation of this hoax," Leavitt said.
"It's well past time for those awards to be stripped from the journalists who received them," she added. "It's not journalism to propagate political disinformation in service of the Democrat Party and those in the Intelligence community who hand over out of context and fake intelligence to push a false political narrative."
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