A Stunning Accusation from the Intelligence Community’s Top Official
On July 18, 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a bombshell report that accuses former President Barack Obama and senior officials in his administration of organizing a coordinated effort to undermine President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory and his ability to govern. Gabbard called it a “treasonous conspiracy” and warned that this was not just about politics, but about a direct threat to the integrity of American democracy.
“This issue is not a partisan one. It is one that concerns every American,” Gabbard said in a public statement. “The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government.” She added that the objective was “to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup.”
The Advent of the Conspiracy
The newly declassified report outlines a series of events starting before the 2016 election. According to intelligence assessments at the time, Russia was “probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means.” These assessments were widely shared across the intelligence community throughout the summer and fall of 2016.
Then, just one month after Donald Trump’s unexpected win over Hillary Clinton, everything changed. On December 7, 2016, internal talking points prepared for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated clearly that “foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the U.S. Presidential election outcome.”
But two days later, on December 9, 2016, President Obama gathered top members of his national security team for a high-level meeting. Attendees included Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Following this meeting, an email from Clapper’s executive assistant was sent to senior officials in the intelligence community. The email instructed them to prepare a new Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) “per the President’s request.” The ICA would outline “the tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election,” and would be led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence with participation from the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Department of Homeland Security.
According to Gabbard, this marked a turning point where previously consistent assessments were replaced by a politically driven narrative.
Leaked Narratives and Shifting Intelligence
The next phase of the operation, Gabbard alleges, involved selective leaking to media outlets. That same day, The Washington Post published stories claiming that Russia had tried to interfere in the election, citing anonymous sources. One article reported that the CIA had “concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.” These leaks came just days after the Obama administration had internally acknowledged there was no evidence of cyber interference altering the election outcome.
The newly ordered ICA was released to the public on January 6, 2017, just two weeks before Trump’s inauguration. This assessment claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had directed efforts to help Trump defeat Clinton, based on “further information” that had come to light since the election.
But Gabbard’s report alleges that this “further information” was not intelligence in the traditional sense. Much of it came from the Steele Dossier, a collection of unverified and salacious claims compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. The dossier was funded in part by the Clinton campaign and was already known within the intelligence community to be unreliable.
“The facts reveal this new assessment was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured,” Gabbard said. “This was politicized intelligence that was used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump’s victory.”
The Chain of Evidence: How the Story Unfolded
- Summer–Fall 2016: Multiple assessments from intelligence agencies concluded that Russia was not attempting to interfere with U.S. election infrastructure to influence the outcome.
- December 7, 2016: DNI Clapper received internal talking points affirming that there was no cyberattack that altered the election result.
- December 9, 2016: President Obama held a secret meeting with his top security officials. After the meeting, an email was sent directing the creation of a new intelligence report focused on Russian interference, this time aimed at supporting claims that Trump had benefitted from foreign involvement.
- Post-Meeting Leaks: Within hours, false or misleading claims were leaked to media outlets, portraying Russia as actively trying to help Trump win.
- January 6, 2017: A public Intelligence Community Assessment was released stating that Putin had ordered the Russian effort to influence the election in Trump’s favor. Gabbard claims this assessment contradicted months of earlier findings and relied on discredited material like the Steele Dossier.
- Mueller Investigation and Impeachments: This report and the surrounding narrative helped set the stage for years of investigations, including the Mueller probe and two impeachments of President Trump.
Trump’s Response and Gabbard’s Warning
President Trump responded quickly to the release, calling the actions “disgraceful” and demanding full accountability. “They tried to destroy me and my family, and they must pay,” he said in a statement. “This wasn’t just dirty politics. It was treason.”
Gabbard echoed that sentiment and emphasized the gravity of the situation. “Their egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic,” she said. “No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Silence and Pushback from Obama-Era Officials
Most of the officials named in the report, including James Clapper, John Brennan, and James Comey, have not commented publicly. Comey declined to respond. Critics have accused Gabbard of recycling conspiracy theories and trying to deflect attention from other scandals.
Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, dismissed the report. “Baseless accusations of treason are unfortunately par for the course for this Director of National Intelligence,” he said, accusing Gabbard of trying to “change the subject.”
However, Gabbard defended her decision, saying the American people “deserve to know the truth” and must hold those in power accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
Gabbard’s release is more than a political attack. It is a direct challenge to how intelligence was used during one of the most turbulent transitions of power in U.S. history. By tracing a clear line from internal emails to media leaks to a public assessment built on discredited sources, the report raises serious questions about whether intelligence agencies were weaponized for political gain.
Gabbard concluded her remarks by calling for a full investigation by the Department of Justice. “The future of our nation depends on it,” she said. “The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic must be restored.”
NP Editor: Forget about Biden, Obama was the worst President in our lifetime. Not because he was incompetent, but because he was intelligent and capable and was actively working against the basic freedoms of the American Constitution. I firmly believe this, and America is the worse for his Presidency.
