Donald Trump’s intel chief Tulsi Gabbard stood in the White House briefing room on Wednesday and accused members of the Obama administration of a “years-long coup” against the president.
The director of national intelligence accused the former president of directing the creation of a “false” intelligence assessment nearly a decade ago on 2016 Russian election interference, which found it was done to help Trump.
“They manufactured findings from shoddy sources, they suppressed evidence and credible intelligence that disproved their false claims,” Gabbard declared. “They conspired to undermine the will of the American people.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Gabbard announced she had declassified the GOP House report on Russian interference in the 2016 election at Trump’s direction.
It was the latest in a series of documents released by the DNI as she accuses Obama officials of “treasonous conspiracy” and a “years-long coup” against Trump.
Gabbard said she had referred all documents to the Justice Department and FBI to investigate criminal implications, but she said the “evidence” points directly to the former president.
When asked directly if she believed Obama committed treason, she left it to the Justice Department, but she repeated her claim it was “treasonous conspiracy.”
There have been multiple investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which concluded that Russia did carry out an effort to interfere in the election.
The House majority report Gabbard released on Wednesday, which stemmed from the Republican investigation, found there was a Russian effort to influence the election but disputed the intelligence assessment that it was done to help Trump.
However, the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation found Russia sought to influence the 2016 election to undermine U.S. elections and help Trump.
Asked if the previous investigations missed something or if she believed it was covered up, Gabbard responded simply, “Look at the evidence and you will know the truth.”
Critics of the Trump administration have accused Gabbard of making her explosive allegations to distract from fallout over Jeffrey Epstein. The president also brought up Gabbard’s accusations himself on Tuesday when asked about the Epstein case.
Trump accusing Obama of treason on Tuesday prompted a rare statement from Obama’s office calling the allegations “bizarre” and a “weak attempt at distraction.”
While the timing of Gabbard’s accusations has raised questions, the DNI could not speak to why her claims did not come to light sooner, including during Trump’s first term.
“I can’t speak to what happened there,” Gabbard said when asked why her info was not declassified when Trump served as president from 2017 to 2021. She suggested members of his first administration worked to undermine him.
While Gabbard referred documents to the Justice Department, it is not clear where the allegations will go from here.
The Supreme Court last July ruled that former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts as president. That decision stemmed from the case against Trump in connection with his actions regarding the attack at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Despite presidents being found to have immunity, the White House suggested Trump wants action to be taken against the Obama administration.
“He wants to see all those who perpetuated this fraud against our country, who betrayed our country and the Constitution to be thoroughly investigated and held accountable,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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