Latest news with #NationalIntelligence
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ted Cruz Admits Trump's Fever Dream of Obama Treason Charge Is BS
Sen. Ted Cruz has admitted that Barack Obama is not going to be charged with treason, despite the Trump administration's attempts to smear the former president to deflect from the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has accused Obama of engaging in a 'treasonous conspiracy' and 'years-long coup' against President Donald Trump over his administration's investigation of Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election. Trump and his base have eagerly embraced the half-baked conspiracy and called for Obama's arrest, but now the president's own allies have been forced to admit Obama won't be on trial for treason anytime soon. During Cruz's Wednesday appearance on The Ingraham Angle, Fox News host Laura Ingraham pointed out that the Supreme Court has ruled that presidents enjoy immunity for 'official acts.' 'He's not going to be prosecuted for treason,' Ingraham said. 'That's not going to happen.' 'He's not going to be prosecuted, in all likelihood, for treason,' Cruz agreed. The Texas senator then tried to insist, however, that members of the Obama administration could face 'criminal liability' for supposedly lying under oath and 'fabricating evidence.' So far, the administration has not provided any evidence that Obama officials did anything other than request preliminary intelligence assessments about Russia's election-meddling in 2016. Gabbard's supposed smoking guns have not contradicted the massive bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report that concluded in 2020 that Russia had 'engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election' in Trump's favor. The director of national intelligence, however, has pointed to the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not successfully hack electronic voting machines as 'evidence' that Russia's election interference was all a 'hoax.' She said she was sending all of her documents to the Department of Justice, implying that indictments could be imminent. Obama hit back at the Trump administration on Wednesday in a rare statement, saying through a spokesman: 'The 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.' The accusations came as Trump was facing his own supporters' fury over the administration's failure to provide new evidence in the Epstein case. When it comes to the disgraced financier, the president's base has accused the administration of over-promising and under-delivering—something that Cruz's comments show could very well happen in the Obama conspiracy as well.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brennan, Clapper: Trump administration seeks to ‘rewrite history' with Obama claims
Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper used a joint op-ed to push back on claims from the Trump administration that Obama-era intelligence officials misrepresented conclusions about its review of Russia's effort to influence the 2016 election. 'Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the Central Intelligence Agency director, have over the past month claimed that senior officials of the Obama administration manufactured politicized intelligence, silenced intelligence professionals and engaged in a broad 'treasonous conspiracy' to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump. That is patently false,' the duo wrote in The New York Times. The intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the aim of aiding President Trump in the contest. The pair then listed a suite of reports that backed that conclusion, from Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham to a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report prepared under now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'Every serious review has substantiated the intelligence community's fundamental conclusion that the Russians conducted an influence campaign intended to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election,' the two wrote. Amid pressure on the Trump administration to release files related to the prosecution of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, the Trump team has released several other tranches of documents. Gabbard, in particular, has released a memo and documents she said shows Clapper withheld information from the American public, including that there was 'no indication of a Russian threat to directly manipulate the actual vote count.' That was never in dispute though, and intelligence officials said at the time that Russia was unable to manipulate vote counts. The documents released by Gabbard show intelligence officials discussing that Russia was unable to change any votes. Gabbard later released a report from House Intelligence Republicans casting doubt on whether Russia aimed to help Trump versus sow chaos in the U.S., but most other assessments back the conclusion the adversary did so with the hopes of boosting the president. But beyond the documents released, Gabbard and others have largely talked about the intelligence community's review of the 2016 election as part of a conspiracy to damage Trump, undermine his victory, and boost the largely-debunked Steele dossier. 'Contrary to the Trump administration's wild and baseless claims, there was no mention of 'collusion' between the Trump campaign and the Russians in the assessment,' they wrote. 'We have testified under oath, and the reviews of the assessment have confirmed, that the dossier was not used as a source or taken into account for any of its analysis or conclusions,' they added. They also reiterated that the assessment made no judgment about the impact Russia's moves had on the outcome of the election. 'While some state and local electoral boards and voter information and registration systems were accessed by Russian intelligence, the assessment made clear that none of those types of systems were involved in counting votes,' they wrote. 'Russian influence operations might have shaped the views of Americans before they entered the voting booth, but we found no evidence that the Russians changed any actual votes.' Clapper and Brennan go on to describe efforts to keep their intelligence work shielded, understanding the influence it would have on the election, calling it a 'remarkable irony' to have Trump figures release it now. 'The real politicization is the calculated distortion of intelligence by administration officials, notably Mr. Trump's directors of national intelligence and the C.I.A., positions that should be apolitical. We find it deeply regrettable that the administration continues to perpetuate the fictitious narrative that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election,' they wrote. 'It should instead acknowledge that a foreign nation-state — a mortal enemy of the United States — routinely meddles in our national elections and will continue to do so unless we take appropriate bipartisan action to stop it.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
James Clapper, John Brennan hit back at Trump allegations about Russia probe as 'patently false'
Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded sharply Wednesday to Trump administration allegations that they cooked intel in the sprawling Russia investigation that dominated the president's first term. "That is patently false. In making those allegations, they seek to rewrite history. We want to set the record straight and, in doing so, sound a warning," the pair wrote in a guest essay for The New York Times. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has alleged former President Barack Obama and members of his administration, including Clapper and Brennan, promoted a "contrived narrative" that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump, which led to the sprawling collusion investigation that consumed Trump's presidency. Trump has described the alleged actions by Obama, Clapper, Brennan and Comey as "serious treason." "While some external critiques have noted that parts of the Russia investigation could have been handled better, multiple, thorough, years-long reviews of the assessment have validated its findings and the rigor of its analysis," Brennan and Clapper wrote, arguing the most "noteworthy" example was the bipartisan Senate Intelligence report on the investigation. "Every serious review has substantiated the intelligence community's fundamental conclusion that the Russians conducted an influence campaign intended to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election," the pair continued. "Although the misrepresentations and disinformation of the administration are too numerous to address here, let us set the record straight on three. To be clear, we are writing here in our personal capacities, and our views don't imply the endorsement of any federal agency." Brennan and Clapper argued that the Steele Dossier, which was authored by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and funded by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the DNC, was not used as a source or taken into account for any of the analysis. However, they added it was included as a "separate annex only to the most highly classified version of the document that contained the assessment," at the direction of the FBI. The intelligence officials also said that their assessment made "no judgment" about the impact of the Russian operation on the outcome of the 2016 election. "Russian influence operations might have shaped the views of Americans before they entered the voting booth, but we found no evidence that the Russians changed any actual votes," Clapper and Brennan wrote. Clapper appeared on CNN to dispute the allegations, telling host Kaitlan Collins that the claims were false. Brennan joined MSNBC earlier this month and said he was "clueless" as to why he would be investigated. "Finally, and contrary to the Trump administration's wild and baseless claims, there was no mention of 'collusion' between the Trump campaign and the Russians in the assessment, nor any reference to the publicly acknowledged contacts that had taken place," Clapper and Brennan added. The pair insisted the "real politicization" was coming from members of Trump's administration, specifically Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. "The real politicization is the calculated distortion of intelligence by administration officials, notably Mr. Trump's directors of national intelligence and the C.I.A., positions that should be apolitical. We find it deeply regrettable that the administration continues to perpetuate the fictitious narrative that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election. It should instead acknowledge that a foreign nation-state — a mortal enemy of the United States — routinely meddles in our national elections and will continue to do so unless we take appropriate bipartisan action to stop it," Clapper and Brennan concluded. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Hill
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Brennan, Clapper: Trump administration seeks to ‘rewrite history' with Obama claims
Former CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper used a joint op-ed to push back on claims from the Trump administration that Obama-era intelligence officials misrepresented conclusions about its review of Russia's effort to influence the 2016 election. 'Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the Central Intelligence Agency director, have over the past month claimed that senior officials of the Obama administration manufactured politicized intelligence, silenced intelligence professionals and engaged in a broad 'treasonous conspiracy' to undermine the presidency of Donald Trump. That is patently false,' the duo wrote in The New York Times. The intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the aim of aiding President Trump in the contest. The pair then list a suite of reports that backed that conclusion, from Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham to a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report prepared under now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'Every serious review has substantiated the intelligence community's fundamental conclusion that the Russians conducted an influence campaign intended to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election,' the two wrote. Amid pressure on the Trump administration to release files related to the prosecution of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, the Trump team has released several other tranches of documents. Gabbard, in particular, has released a memo and documents she said shows Clapper withheld information from the American public, including that there was 'no indication of a Russian threat to directly manipulate the actual vote count.' That was never in dispute though, and intelligence officials said at the time that Russia was unable to manipulate vote counts. The documents released by Gabbard show intelligence officials discussing that Russia was unable to change any votes. Gabbard later released a report from House Intelligence Republicans casting doubt on whether Russia aimed to help Trump versus sow chaos in the U.S., but most other assessments back the conclusion the adversary did so with the hopes of boosting the president. But beyond the documents released, Gabbard and others have largely talked about the intelligence community's review of the 2016 election as part of a conspiracy to damage Trump, undermine his victory, and boost the largely-debunked Steele Dossier. 'Contrary to the Trump administration's wild and baseless claims, there was no mention of 'collusion' between the Trump campaign and the Russians in the assessment,' they wrote. 'We have testified under oath, and the reviews of the assessment have confirmed, that the dossier was not used as a source or taken into account for any of its analysis or conclusions,' they added. They also reiterated that the assessment made no judgment about the impact Russia's moves had on the outcome of the election. 'While some state and local electoral boards and voter information and registration systems were accessed by Russian intelligence, the assessment made clear that none of those types of systems were involved in counting votes,' they wrote. 'Russian influence operations might have shaped the views of Americans before they entered the voting booth, but we found no evidence that the Russians changed any actual votes.' Clapper and Brennan go on to describe efforts to keep their intelligence work shielded, understanding the influence it would have on the election, calling it a 'remarkable irony' to have Trump figures release it now. 'The real politicization is the calculated distortion of intelligence by administration officials, notably Mr. Trump's directors of national intelligence and the C.I.A., positions that should be apolitical. We find it deeply regrettable that the administration continues to perpetuate the fictitious narrative that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election,' they wrote. 'It should instead acknowledge that a foreign nation-state — a mortal enemy of the United States — routinely meddles in our national elections and will continue to do so unless we take appropriate bipartisan action to stop it.'
NDTV
a day ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Kash Patel Finds Hidden Trove Of Trump-Russia Probe Documents At FBI Office
FBI Director Kash Patel has discovered multiple "burn bags" filled with thousands of classified documents linked to the bureau's Trump-Russia probe, known internally as 'Crossfire Hurricane'. The bags, used to destroy sensitive documents, were found in a hidden room inside FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. Inside was a 29-page classified annex to a 2023 report by special counsel John Durham. That report looked into how and why the FBI started its 2016 investigation into possible links between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. The "burn bag" system is used to securely dispose of documents marked classified or above. "Just think about this," Kash Patel said in a podcast interview with Joe Rogan last month. "When I first got to the bureau, I found a room that [former FBI Director James] Comey and others hid from the world in the Hoover Building, full of documents and computer hard drives no one had ever seen or heard of." This secret appendix, never made public before, contains intelligence from foreign sources warning that the FBI might help spread a false story about Trump colluding with Russia, before the official launch of Crossfire Hurricane in July 2016. The documents are now undergoing declassification in coordination with top Trump-era officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and NSA Acting Director William Hartman. Once cleared, the annex will be turned over to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley for public release. A source told Fox News that the intelligence in it, while ambiguous at the time, "predicted the FBI's next move with alarming specificity." "Ultimately, the release of the classified annex will lend more credibility to the assertion that there was a coordinated plan inside the US government to help the Clinton campaign stir up controversy connecting Trump to Russia," the source said. Earlier this month, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, released new materials claiming the Obama administration was prepared to close the door on Russian interference findings until Comey's FBI took the investigation in a different direction, a claim denied by former intelligence chiefs John Brennan and James Clapper. In a New York Times op-ed, Brennan and Clapper maintained that Russia did, in fact, interfere in the 2016 election to influence voter preferences, and criticised what they called a distortion of intelligence by Trump-era officials.
