Gabbard: DOJ should investigate Obama administration for 2016 claims
July 19 (UPI) -- The Obama administration should be investigated for abuse of power to smear President Donald Trump in 2016, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday.
Gabbard announced the release of files and a memo related to claims of Russia's alleged attempt to disrupt the 2016 elections to help Trump win the presidency over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"There was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of government," Gabbard said in a news release on Friday.
"Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the president from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people," Gabbard said.
She accused the Obama administration of an "egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution" that "threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic."
President Barack Obama and his national security cabinet members "manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork" for falsifying claims that Russia acted to influence the election in Trump's favor and to impeach the president, according to the DNI release.
Gabbard in 2019 was a member of the Democratic Party and a representative from Hawaii who said, "I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no," during the Dec. 18, 2019, House vote to impeach Trump, according to Politico.
The DNI release says the U.S. intelligence community consistently concluded Russia likely was not trying to influence the 2016 election, and then-DNI Director James Clapper on Dec. 7, 2016, concluded "foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks" to alter the election results.
Despite evidence to the contrary, Gabbard says Obama and others tasked Clapper with creating a new intelligence community assessment that claimed Russia acted to influence the election.
Obama officials then leaked false statements claiming Russia tried to influence the election's outcome and produced a new assessment on Jan. 6, 2017, that contradicted prior assessments on the matter, according to the DNI.
Gabbard said she is forwarding relevant materials to the Department of Justice for possible legal action.
Some congressional Democrats have challenged Gabbard's announcement.
"The unanimous, bipartisan conclusion was that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told CNN on Friday.
"This is just another example of the DNI trying to cook the books, rewrite history and erode trust in the intelligence agencies she's supposed to be leading," Warner added.
Warner is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said "every legitimate investigation" into the matter affirmed the findings of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment, CNN reported.
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Trump's talk of investigations into perceived adversaries from years ago let him, in effect, go back in time to deflect attention from a very current crisis. 'Whether it's right or wrong,' Trump said, 'it's time to go after people.' Megerian and Tucker write for the Associated Press.
