Latest news with #Gabbard
Winnipeg Free Press
24 minutes ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Gabbard uses surprise White House appearance to attack Trump's enemies on the Russia investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard is responsible for guarding America's secrets and discovering threats from overseas. But when she made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Wednesday, her targets were President Donald Trump's political enemies. Escalating her attempts to undermine the long-settled conclusion that Russia tried to help Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the presidency nearly a decade ago, she unspooled what she called unshakeable proof that then-President Barack Obama and his advisers plotted nothing short of a coup. 'They conspired to subvert the will of the American people,' she said, claiming they fabricated evidence to taint Trump's victory. Little of what she said was new, and much of it was baseless. Gabbard said her investigation into the former Democratic administration was designed to stop the weaponization of national security institutions, but it spurred more questions about her own independence atop a spying system intended to provide unvarnished intelligence. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for president herself before joining Trump's idiosyncratic political ecosystem, seemed prepared to use her presentation to burnish her own standing. She was trailed by her cinematographer husband, who held a video camera to capture the moment. And Trump, who had previously expressed public doubts about Gabbard's analysis of Iran's nuclear program, appeared satisfied. He posted a video of her remarks, pinning them at the top of his social media feed. It was a display that cemented Gabbard's role as one of Trump's chief agents of retribution, delivering official recognition of Trump's grievances about the Russia investigation that shadowed his first term. The focus on a years-old scandal also served Trump's attempts to shift attention from the Jeffrey Epstein case and questions about the president's own association with an abuser of underage girls. Gabbard touts her latest release During her White House remarks, Gabbard said she has referred the documents to the Justice Department to consider for a possible criminal investigation. Obama's post-presidential office declined to comment Wednesday but issued a rare response a day earlier. 'These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' said Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesman. The White House rejected questions about the timing of Gabbard's revelations and whether they were designed to curry favor with Trump or distract attention from the administration's handling of files relating to Epstein. Still, Trump was quick to reward Gabbard's loyalty this week, calling her 'the hottest person in the room.' On Wednesday, she released a report by Republican staff of the House Intelligence Committee during the first Trump administration. It does not dispute that Russia interfered in the 2016 election but cites what it says were tradecraft failings in the assessment reached by the intelligence community that Russian President Vladimir Putin influenced the election because he intended for Trump to win. Gabbard went beyond some of the conclusions of the report in describing its findings from the White House podium. She, along with the report, also seized on the fact that a dossier including uncorroborated tips and salacious gossip about Trump's ties to Russia was referenced in an annex of an intelligence community assessment made public in 2017 that detailed Russia's interference. It was not the basis for the FBI's decision to open an investigation in July 2016 into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, but Trump supporters have seized on the unverified innuendo in the document to try to undercut the broader probe. Timing of the reports prompt questions Gabbard said she didn't know why the reports weren't released during Trump's first administration. Her office did not respond to questions about the timing of the release. Responding to a question from a reporter about Gabbard's motivations, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused journalists of looking for a story where there wasn't one. 'The only people who are suggesting that she would release evidence to boost her standing are the people in this room,' Leavitt said. Trump, however, has said he wants the media, and the public, to focus on Gabbard's report and not his ties to Epstein. 'We caught Hillary Clinton. We caught Barack Hussein Obama … you ought take a look at that and stop talking about nonsense,' Trump said Tuesday. CIA Director John Ratcliffe served briefly as director of national intelligence during Trump's first term but did not release any of the information declassified by Gabbard. The CIA declined to comment on Gabbard's remarks Wednesday. Trump and Gabbard's evolving relationship Gabbard told Congress in April that Iran wasn't actively seeking a nuclear weapon, and Trump dismissed her assessment just before U.S. strikes on Iran. 'I don't care what she said,' Trump said in June on Air Force One when asked about Gabbard's testimony. Gabbard recently shared her findings in an Oval Office meeting with Trump, according to two administration officials who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Afterward, one of the officials said, Trump expressed satisfaction that Gabbard's findings aligned with his own beliefs about the Russia investigation. Other recent releases on the Russia investigation On Friday, Gabbard's office released a report that downplayed the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election by highlighting Obama administration emails showing officials had concluded before and after the presidential race that Moscow had not hacked state election systems to manipulate votes in Trump's favor. But Obama's Democratic administration never suggested otherwise, even as it exposed other means by which Russia interfered in the election, including through a massive hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks, as well as a covert influence campaign aimed at swaying public opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts. Earlier this month Ratcliffe released a report earlier this month criticizing the 2017 investigation into the election, but it did not address multiple investigations since then, including a report from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020 that reached the same conclusion about Russia's influence and motives. Democrats call for Gabbard's resignation Lawmakers from both parties have long stressed the need for an independent intelligence service. Democrats said Gabbard's reports show she has placed partisanship and loyalty to Trump over her duty and some have called for her resignation. 'It seems as though the Trump administration is willing to declassify anything and everything except the Epstein files,' Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Wednesday. Warner predicted Gabbard's actions could prompt U.S. allies to share less information for fear it would be politicized or recklessly declassified. But Gabbard enjoys strong support among Republicans. Rep. Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said she and Ratcliffe were working to put the intelligence community 'on the path to regaining the trust of the American people.' Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, said Gabbard hasn't offered any reason to ignore the many earlier investigations into Russia's efforts. 'The Director is free to disagree with the Intelligence Community Assessment's conclusion that Putin favored Donald Trump, but her view stands in stark contrast to the verdict rendered by multiple credible investigations,' Himes said in a statement. 'Including the bipartisan report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee.'
Mint
an hour ago
- Politics
- Mint
Russiagate reignited: Tulsi Gabbard says Barack Obama engineered false intel, DOJ to review charges
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard ignited a political firestorm on Wednesday (July 23), alleging that former President Barack Obama and his national security team engineered a 'contrived narrative' that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to aid Donald Trump. 'There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false,' Gabbard said during a tense White House press briefing. 'They knew it would promote this contrived narrative… selling it to the American people as though it were true. It wasn't.' Gabbard's claims follow the release of newly declassified intelligence documents that, according to her, expose efforts by the Obama administration to politicise intelligence findings. She said the materials show there was no direct information proving that Russian President Vladimir Putin actively supported Trump in 2016. 'All [the documents] come back to and confirm the same report: There was a gross politicization and manipulation of intelligence by the Obama administration intended to delegitimize President Trump even before he was inaugurated,' Gabbard stated. 'Ultimately, they sought to usurp the will of the American people.' Gabbard confirmed that the declassified material has been referred to federal law enforcement agencies for further investigation. 'We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI,' she said. 'The evidence that we have found, and that we have released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.' A day earlier, President Donald Trump directly accused Obama of being the 'ringleader' behind the 2016 Russia probe, escalating his long-standing claims that the investigation was politically motivated. Gabbard alleges 'treasonous conspiracy' by Obama-era officials to undermine Trump in 2016 Gabbard on Friday in her explosive claim said that former President Barack Obama and senior members of his administration orchestrated a 'treasonous conspiracy' to delegitimize Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 'No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,' Gabbard said in a statement. 'We must ensure nothing like this ever happens again.' The released memo from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) identifies several high-profile intelligence figures allegedly involved in reviewing and crafting the intelligence community's assessment of Russian meddling in the election. The names include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former FBI Director James Comey. Gabbard claims these officials collaborated to create a politically motivated assessment intended to delegitimise Trump's presidency even before he was sworn in. Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush dismissed the allegations as absurd. 'These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' Rodenbush said in a statement. 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.' He added, '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.'
The Hill
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
5 takeaways from Tulsi Gabbard's White House press briefing
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard spoke to reporters at the White House on Wednesday on the heels of the latest document drop alleging Obama administration officials misled the public about intelligence surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 election. Gabbard made a rare appearance in the briefing room, a sign the White House is seeking to keep a spotlight on the claims her office has levied about former President Obama and some of his intelligence officials. Here are five takeaways from the briefing. House report offers fresh fodder Gabbard's appearance coincided with her office's release of a previously classified report from the House Intelligence Committee that was first drafted in 2017 and published in 2020. Gabbard said one key finding was that Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'principal interests' around the 2016 election were to 'undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process, not show preference of a certain candidate.' 'In fact, this report shows Putin held back leaking…compromising material on Hillary Clinton prior to the election, instead planning to release it after the election to weaken what Moscow viewed as an inevitable Clinton presidency,' Gabbard said. The House report determined the CIA 'did not adhere to the tenets' of analytic standards and said the conclusion that Putin took actions to benefit Trump was based on 'one scant, unclear, and unverifiable fragment of a sentence from one of the substandard reports.' Gabbard argued the report was particularly damning for former President Obama, CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. But critics quickly panned the report as out of step with intelligence community findings and the findings of a bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee released in 2020, which both established that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election and preferred Trump to win. 'Nothing in this partisan, previously scuttled document changes that. 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,' Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. Gabbard suggests Obama implicated Former President Obama's name was uttered nearly a dozen times at Wednesday's briefing as Gabbard and other officials have suggested Trump's predecessor was directly involved in efforts to mislead the public. 'We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the criminal implications of this,' Gabbard said when asked if any of the information released Wednesday implicates Obama in criminal behavior. 'The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly points to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact,' Gabbard added. President Trump had a day earlier accused Obama of treason, prompting a rare public rebuke from the former president's office. '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,' Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. 'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio, who now serves as Trump's secretary of State. Officials sidestep questions about consequences Gabbard and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly dodged when pressed on what crime Obama could be charged with or whether he should go to jail for something he did related to the handling of Russian interference in the 2016 election. 'I'm leaving the criminal charges to the DOJ. I'm not an attorney,' Gabbard when asked if Obama is guilty of treason, despite previously claiming his administration's actions amounted to a 'treasonous conspiracy.' She also deflected to the Justice Department when asked what Obama could be charged with given the statute of limitations on conspiracy would have expired. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly called for accountability for those who committed wrongdoing. NBC News correspondent Kelly O'Donnell asked what that would mean given a previous special counsel, John Durham, did not charge Obama or his top aides when he could have, and the Supreme Court has ruled presidents have broad immunity for acts while in office. 'The president has made it clear that he wanted these documents to be declassified, he wanted the American people to see the truth and now he wants those who perpetuated these lies and this scandal to be held accountable,' Leavitt said. 'As for what accountability looks like…it's in the Department of Justice's hands, and we trust them to move this ball forward,' Leavitt said. White House addresses questions about Rubio, Gabbard Skeptics of the Trump administration's allegations about the Russia documents have noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a staunch Trump ally, was among the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee when it issued its bipartisan report in 2020. Democrats and other critics have pointed to Rubio's support for those conclusions to question the administration's new allegations and why someone like the secretary of State would not have raised them previously. Leavitt largely sidestepped the question. She noted that Rubio issued a statement in 2020 describing Russia's attempts to meddle in the election and actions taken by the FBI as 'troubling.' CNN's Kaitlan Collins also asked whether Gabbard's release of multiple reports about Russian interference, a long-standing fixation for Trump, was meant as a way to get back in his good graces after he publicly criticized her last month. 'The only people who are suggesting that the director of national intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos among the president's Cabinet. And it's not working,' Leavitt said. Trump 'has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard, he always has, he continues to,' Leavitt added. Trump had previously publicly criticized Gabbard and said he disagreed with her assessments about Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon in June as he mulled strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Questions about politicization and weaponization Gabbard has spoken frequently about her efforts to eliminate politicization from the intelligence community in her role as director of national intelligence, and Trump administration officials have repeatedly argued the government was weaponized against the president in his various criminal cases. But the intelligence director on Wednesday faced multiple questions about whether she was merely adding to the politicization by making grave allegations of wrongdoing against Obama officials, and about whether the documents released by her office conflated different issues. 'I think that's a very disrespectful attack on the American people who deserve the truth,' Gabbard said, brushing off a question about whether a referral of the former president was 'a potential race to the bottom.' Gabbard similarly attacked Obama in response to a question about whether she was conflating allegations that Russia actually hacked the election or changed results with allegations of Russian attempts to meddle and sow distrust. 'I think it's a disservice to the American people that former President Obama's office and others who are criticizing the transparency that is being delivered by releasing these documents,' Gabbard said. 'They are doing a disservice to the American people in trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
House to adjourn amid Epstein furor
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.'
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Gabbard, once scorned, takes center stage with latest Obama allegations
And it speaks to how Trump views his staff. Just as he sees the Justice Department as his lawyers, the DNI is best served when its assessments align with those of the man in the Oval Office. Her release of the Obama administration documents — and her allegations about them — comes at the perfect time for a president desperate to change the subject from the fight over unsealing more information about disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail by suicide six years ago. 'People talk about the 'audience of one' with Trump, and it continues to be true,' said a Trump ally outside the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly. 'She knew this would be catnip for him and the timing with the Epstein stuff makes it all the more useful for the president.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that no one outside the press corps believes Gabbard released the information to boost her standing with the president. Trump, she said, 'has the utmost confidence in Director Gabbard. He always has.' Asked about Gabbard's rising status in the Trump White House, a senior U.S. intelligence official said she was simply 'doing her job.' The official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on her standing in the administration, also called media speculation about her recent hot streak 'incredibly stupid.' Trump, on Tuesday, seized on Gabbard's latest disclosures and accused Obama of treason. Thanking her in front of the GOP lawmakers, the president said 'she found out that Barack Hussein Obama led a group of people, and they cheated in the elections, and they cheated without question.' Trump's accusations drew a response from Obama's office. A spokesperson for the former president dismissed Trump's claims as 'ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' And several Democrats have responded similarly. 'It seems as though the Trump administration is willing to declassify anything and everything except the Epstein files,' Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement on Wednesday. '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. 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.' Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also pointed to the 'bipartisan, unanimous finding' of the committee in its 2020 report concluding that Russia did in fact attempt to influence the U.S. election four years earlier to help then-candidate Trump. 'Nothing in this partisan, previously scuttled document changes that. 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.'
